Nights of Lightning
by Wreck-It Ralph
Summary: Sequel to One Sweet Career. Rancis' life had changed for the better. He got his first win and a beautiful girlfriend. But things change even more for Rancis when Sugar Rush receives an upgrade and the arcade gets a NASCAR game. What can happen when you're offered to be a champion while a new evil threatens your home's existence?
1. Nights of Lightning

_I do NOT own Wreck-It Ralph which is owned by Disney. Here is the highly anticipated sequel to One Sweet Career! It starts right off where One Sweet Career left off. I hope everyone enjoys this high octane racing thriller. I hope you all enjoy:_

**Nights of Lightning**

Rancis Fluggerbutter and Vanellope von Schweetz were still soaking up the news of their upgrade and of the new racing game that was going to be plugged in. "An upgrade, can you believe it Rancis? I wonder what will change?!" Vanellope squealed in excitement. Rancis just shrugged as he put on his hat and jacket.

"I haven't a clue Nelly, but maybe we'll be older and our karts might be faster," He suggested. Rancis took Vanellope's arm and led her out of the room along with Swizzle and Jubileena.

"Uh so, you guys slept in the same bed after only being a couple for nine hours?" Swizzle asked awkwardly as the four descended down the stairs.

"Yeah I know it sounds weird Swizz, but Rancis and I care about each other a lot and besides all we did was a little cuddling ya Fonzie wanna-be." Vanellope replied as they reached the castle's kitchen for some breakfast. Swizzle sighed in annoyance at his nick name.

"I really like that nick name you gave my special guy Vanellope, its pretty original!" Jubileena complemented as she sipped on some hot chocolate. This caused Swizzle not only to sigh, but snort also.

"Well I don't Jubee, its annoying, and what the hack is a Fonzie anyway?" Swizzle said through gritted teeth. Even he felt weird losing his cool complexion for a minute. Vanellope, Jubileena, and Rancis all looked awkwardly at each other over Swizzle's remark. Vanellope mouthed to Jubileena, 'Has he _ever_ seen _Happy Days?' _Jubileena mouthed back a shocked, '_I guess not.'_

"Oh crap, look at the time guys, the arcade opens in thirty minutes!" Rancis exclaimed. Swizzle and Jubileena quickly got up and hauled ass out of the castle. Rancis got up too, but was stopped by Vanellope.

"Good luck today baby-blue eyes," Vanellope complemented her boyfriend. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and let him go. Rancis, still new to the relationship, was frozen in place. He eventually got his brain working again and smiled.

"Thank you Nellie, good luck to you too," he replied before leaving. He scurried out to his kart, leaving Vanellope leaning against the door frame staring at him with a sigh.

"I love the taste of peanut butter on his lips," she said to herself. She got lost in her mind as she thought more and more of Rancis. Even when he tormented her like a piece of dirt, she always felt special feelings for him. And now, fifteen years later, they had both realized their true feelings. It was a little strange waking up in his arms, yet it felt right. She vowed to herself that she would never lose him to anything. Her head snapped up when she realized that the arcade would open soon. She hurriedly got on her fire suit, helmet, goggles, and gloves and jumped into her kart and sped off to _Sugar Rush Motor Speedway._

**(Arcade closing time)**

The gamers raced the lives out of the characters. For a Saturday, it was close to a record breaker for number of races. All 16 characters took the green flag 37 times, coming close to breaking the record of 43 races in a day. All were exhausted, except for Rancis, whom was chosen more frequently due to being first on the roster list. And as luck would have it, he won close to 60% of the race that day.

"Wow, now that was a great day of racing. Great but exhausting," Taffyta said after taking a long swig of water. She was still sitting in her kart trying to catch her breath.

"It sure was Taffyta, and I liked that last minute block you pulled on me during the last race, very sneaky." Vanellope replied taking off her helmet and goggles. Her hair was greasy with sweat which began to travel down her face. She grabbed a bottle of water and splashed it on her face, breathing in a big sigh of relief.

"So Nellie, are you gonna tell everyone the news," Rancis suggested.

"Sweet mother of monkey milk, I completely forgot to tell them!" Vanellope exclaimed. "Attention everyone, please do not under _any_ circumstances leave the game tonight. We are getting an upgrade!" Vanellope declared. The murmuring began immediately. Candlehead was the only one to speak up.

"What's going to change Vanellope?" She asked innocently.

"I honestly have no idea Candlehead, but Rancis thinks we'll be older and our karts will be faster," Vanellope replied as she got off her kart. The murmuring started back up again as everyone thought what could change.

"Okay we are all happy with the upgrade Miss President, but if we're all stuck in the game, what the hell are we gonna do for eight hours?" Swizzle asked. A few 'yeah's' were tossed around. They all again looked at their president for an idea. Vanellope shrugged, for even she had no idea what to do. They couldn't practice because if their karts were changing, it would be a waste of time to practice in their current karts.

"How about a slumber party," Crumbelina offered. All the girls, except Vanellope of course, squealed in excitement. All Vanellope did was smirk in agreement.

"Okay if you girls have a slumber party, then us guys will have a movie night," Rancis said as he fist bumped Swizzle. Gloyd slapped him on the back.

"Good idea pretty boy, I have loads of horror movies at my place." Gloyd replied. Rancis cringed at the friendly insult. He got upset when others insulted him, but Vanellope was alright, it was one of the things that made his heart melt.

"Whatever boys, you can do what you want. C'mon girls, we don't have a moment to lose!" Vanellope exclaimed as all the girls took off for the castle. The boys started off in the other direction towards Gloyd's house.

**(With the girls)**

"So what's on the agenda tonight Vanellope," Minty Zaki asked as she sipped her soda. Minty, Taffyta, Jubileena, Vanellope, Adorabeezle, Crumbelina, Snowanna, and Candlehead were all in their pajamas in Vanellope's bedroom.

"Ooh, we could watch a romantic comedy like _You've Got Mail _or _Failure to Launch_, I love those movies," Crumbelina offered.

"Um, blecch," Vanellope said with her finger in her mouth. True, she loved being in a relationship with Rancis, but she _detested _romantic comedies.

"I gotta agree with my home-girl here," Snowanna declared, "I was thinking of some truth-or-dare," she suggested. The girls gasped in agreement.

"Now there's an idea that doesn't bite," Adorabeezle said as she put away her MP3 player and got in the circle of girls.

**(With the guys)**

"Okay boys, I have here either _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ or _Halloween_; take your pick!" Gloyd said holding up two DVDs.

"Elm Street," both Swizzle and Rancis replied. Swizzle seemed a little miffed. "Come one Gloyd, Rancis and I have girlfriends, and watching a horror movie with exposed nudity seems really low," Swizzle continued with Rancis nodding in agreement.

"Yeah you're right Swizz," Gloyd replied as he popped in the movie. In reality, he really only cared for the horror and violence. When the movie started, Gloyd and Swizzle munched on their popcorn and drank their Pepsis. Rancis wasn't really paying attention. Gloyd seemed to notice and decided to check on his friend. "Are you all right there Rancis?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"Hmm, uh what Gloyd?" Rancis asked as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"I asked if you were alright," Gloyd repeated as he put the movie on pause to talk to Rancis.

"Yeah I'm fine Gloyd, just thinking that's all." Rancis replied taking a drink.

"Thinking about what bro?" Swizzle chimed in.

"About the upgrade and if Vanellope and I will still like each other," Rancis confessed. Gloyd and Swizzle finally understood.

"Look Rancis, I know you two will be fine, I can tell from watching you and her at last night's party," Swizzle assured. Rancis contemplated this and nodded. "Speaking of girls, after the upgrade, are you gonna ask out Taffyta Gloyd?" Swizzle joked. Gloyd did a massive spit take with his Pepsi.

"W-what are you talking about Swizzle? I don't like her that way! I think she's too bossy," Gloyd defended.

"Oh _please_ Orangeboar, I see the way you drool over her after she takes off her helmet and swishes her hair around," Swizzle retorted with a snicker. Gloyd snorted in annoyance.

"Whatever Fonzie," this caused Swizzle to grit his teeth.

"Why do people call me that? I don't even know what that means!" Swizzle declared in anger. Suddenly, throughout_ Sugar Rush_, a blindingly white light lit up the night as if the sun went super nova. All the racers, fans, cops, and fans fell into a deep and peaceful slumber.

**(Out in the arcade)**

"Thanks for doing this at night Johnny, Jeff Litwak said.

"Hey no problem Mr. Witlak, it's the least I could do for my favorite arcade owner. I remember playing games here back in '95," a 24 year old man said as he stood up from his work. Johnny had just begun the upgrade for _Sugar Rush_.

"And thanks for also getting that new NASCAR game up a few days early," Mr. Litwak said. After a few minutes, Johnny's work was done.

"Okay Mr. Litwak, NASCAR is up and ready to roll, but _Sugar Rush_ won't be ready until morning." The screen for _Sugar Rush_ had a message that read, '**Upgrade in Progess.'**

"Tell me Johnny, is there anything else I need to do for the upgrade?" Mr. Litwak asked. He had run the arcade for close to three and a half decades, but he also wanted to make sure everything was alright for the kids.

"Yeah there is Mr. Litwak, just let the kids have fun," Johnny chuckled. They both locked up the arcade for the night and went their separate ways.

"See you later Johnny!" Mr. Litwak called out. He felt better about having Sunday off to give the game more time to recoup.

**(With Ralph)**

Ralph had been secretly watching the work done on Vanellope's game. "Why didn't she let me know?" He said to himself. He waited for Litwak and Johnny to leave before talking to Felix.

"What can I do for you brother?" Felix asked as Ralph approached him.

"Well _Sugar Rush _just got an upgrade, but Vanellope didn't tell me! I mean what if she doesn't even remember me because of it?" Ralph said in a worried tone. Felix patted him on his arm.

"Don't worry Ralph; I'm sure everything will be fine. Your friendship with her is very strong. She won't forget you, I promise," Felix said.

"Thanks buddy," Ralph said breathing a sigh of relief.

"I can fix anything Ralph, now I'll see you tomorrow!" Felix declared as he went up to his apartment. Ralph went to his shack and took one last look at _Sugar Rush_.

"I hope you remember me kid," he said to himself as he shut the door. Four hours later, the screen of _Sugar Rush_ rebooted and the game started playing its theme song. _"S-U-G-A-R Jump Into Your Racing Car!"_ Across the aisle, the NASCAR game was finished booting up also, playing its theme song: _Born to be Wild."_

**End Chapter 1**

**AN:** Alright chapter one is over and done. Sorry it took so long my readers, but I had a big English paper due and I had no time to write. I hope this was a good starter chapter for my new story. Sorry if it is a little slow, but I promise the racing action will soon commence! Also you get a virtual cookie if you can tell me what movie I am parodying. Plus watch the _Kobalt Tools 400_ at Las Vegas Motor Speedway tomorrow on FOX! Wreck-It Ralph signing off. GO JEFF GORDON!


	2. Older and Faster

_Wow, wow, wow. Thank you all who loved chapter 1. It was more of a success than I thought it was. The virtual cookie is still up for grabs if anyone can guess what racing movie the story parodies! Anywho, I am done rambling. Enjoy chapter 2!_

Vanellope was having a pleasant dream of herself and Rancis. They were both sitting on a hill overlooking _Sugar Rush Motor Speedway_.

"Nelly, I have something important to ask you," Rancis declared as he stood up.

"What is it Rancis?" She asked. She had a slight idea of what he wanted. However, she knew what her answer would be if he asked the question she thought he was going to ask. It was as if she was prepared for it since they first met. He got down on one knee and pulled out a black velvet box.

"Vanellope von Schweetz, would you do me the honor of," Rancis began. Vanellope's breath was caught in her throat and her chest tightened in anxiety and anticipation. "Waking up?" Rancis finished. Vanellope's face tightened into a 'WTF' face.

"Um, say what now Rancis?" Vanellope asked while digging in her ear with her finger to clean it out. Maybe she heard him wrong, or maybe he was just crazy.

"I asked you if you wanted to wake up Nelly," Rancis repeated. Suddenly, Vanellope's world disappeared and everything went black as a new voice rang in her ears. She groaned and started to wake up. She felt as if she was hungover.

"Wake up Vanellope!" The voice shouted. The president opened her eyes slowly and saw Minty in front of her. "Geez, it's about _time_ you woke up Vanellope," Minty said breathing a sigh of relief. Vanellope got up and gasped as she looked around. All of her 12 year old friends weren't 12 anymore, they were all 21!

"HOLY SEGA, YOU ALL LOOK AMAZING!" Vanellope squealed in excitement. Snowanna who was listening stood up.

"You got that right girlfriend. Its sweet being 5'9", the view up here is great!" She said happily standing on her toes. Taffyta, whom was looking at herself in the mirror, was next to speak her mind.

"It is Snowanna, these long legs look hot on us, and plus I think the boys will like this," she said pointing out her rear, "and these," she finished pointing out her chest and smirking. This was greeted by a groan from Crumbelina.

"Come on Taffy, we may look hot now, but our game is still rated _E_, and besides Swizzle and Rancis are currently taken, unless you're talking about _Gloyd!,_" Crumbelina teased. Taffyta blushed like crazy and began to stammer.

"N-n-no I am not Di Caramello! Gloyd Orangeboar is too immature, too annoying, and too," she was cut off by a knock at the door. Jubileena got up to answer it. When she opened it, she was greeted by Gloyd, Rancis, and Swizzle. _'And too perfect,'_ Taffyta thought to herself as she stared at Gloyd. Jubileena and Vanellope began to check out their boyfriends. The boys were all 6'2", had muscular arms and six pack abs that showed through their shirts. **(A.N.: BTW I am **_**NOT **_**gay, just to let you readers know. :P) **However, the boys were too busy checking out their girls to notice. Swizzle almost started drooling at Jubileena. Her red hair was all the way past her shoulders and her outfit was now a white t-shirt with red shorts and red sneakers.

"Damn Jubee, you're hotter than _ever_," Swizzle complemented. Jubileena giggled and hugged her boyfriend.

"You're not so bad looking yourself there handsome," Jubileena replied. Swizzle took her arm and led outside. Rancis was still looking at Vanellope. He was too hypnotized to notice anything around him. Her skirt was now shorts in the shape of a Reese's cup, her mint green hoodie was replaced with a mint green tank top, her shoes were now black combat boots, and a fairly nice sized chest. **(A.N.: I feel **_**so **_**awkward writing that.)**

"Take a picture, it'll last longer there Romeo," Vanellope joked as she playfully punched Rancis' arm. Rancis rubbed is arm and apologized.

"Sorry Vanellope, it's just that I never thought an angel could get any prettier," Rancis said. Vanellope giggled and hugged her boyfriend.

"Oh it's alright Rancis, you look hot too," Vanellope replied. Rancis chuckled and took her arm and led her outside with all the other racers. "Wow! Our karts look _SWEET!"_ Vanellope shouted. Indeed, the karts were twice as big as before, had bigger engines, which put out twice as much horsepower. "I bet these monsters could do 100 mph easy!" Vanellope declared while rubbing her kart.

"I know that this is really cool Vanellope, but we have all Sunday to try them out," Jubileena pointed out. "Why don't we go check out that new NASCAR game?" She suggested, yanking Vanellope from her kart. Vanellope groaned, but reluctantly agreed.

"Aw alright, anyway I should go see Stinkbrain, I can't wait to see his face when he sees the new me!" Vanellope said replied. She ran toward the exit of the game with Rancis, Swizzle, and Jubileena in tow.

"Well, now what do we do?" Adorabeezle asked the remaining racers. They all just shrugged in unison. Gloyd was the only one that had an idea.

"We could practice our new karts?" He suggested. The girls nodded and everyone geared up to practice. As he was making his way to his kart, Gloyd made eye contact with Taffyta. His mind froze, but his body kept walking. He had no idea where he was going and he tripped over a rock and fell on his face in the dirt. All the girls except Taffyta starting laughing, she gasped and went to help him.

**(With the other racers)**

The four racers made their way through Game Central Station, but now without Vanellope and Jubileena turning a few heads. "All the guys are staring at us Vanellope," Jubileena whispered, "I don't know whether to be flattered or annoyed," she finished.

"For now, just take it as a compliment Jubileena, they're just looking at us, and if they try anything, we're tough enough to handle them," Vanellope replied looking around. Rancis put his hand on her shoulder.

"But if that doesn't work, Swizzle and I can rough them up, right Swizz?" Rancis chimed in. Swizzle replied with a nod and held onto Jubileena closer. She loved being close to him and put her head in the crook of his neck. The four had made it to the gate for _Fix-It Felix Jr._ and hopped on the train. Since they were racers, the slowness of the train, kinda pissed them off.

"For the love of Tobicomi, I could _sleepwalk_ faster than this slow piece of shit," Swizzle said in annoyance. Jubileena playfully slapped his arm because she doesn't like foul language very much; she could handle Swizzle saying 'damn' but that was it. After what seemed like an eternity and ¾, the train finally reached the game. The four hopped off the train and took a look around. Vanellope, who was already used to the game, let her friends check it out.

"Wow, this game is really simple, few apartments, some trees, and a rundown outhouse," Rancis pointed out.

"Nope, that's not an outhouse my friend, that there is Ralph's cottage," Vanellope chuckled as she knocked on the door. They heard some grumbling and footsteps behind the door as Ralph got up.

"Yeah what is it?" Ralph muttered as he opened the door. He gasped when he saw Vanellope. "Kid, is that you? You look, well older," Ralph exclaimed.

"Our game got an upgrade Ralph, sorry I didn't tell you before, but it just slipped my mind because we wanted to spend time together before the upgrade," Vanellope explained. Ralph sighed in relief and exited his cottage.

"Well you don't know how worried I was kid, I thought you wouldn't remember me," Ralph said feverishly. Vanellope burst out laughing.

"Me, forget you Ralph? Yeah right. Who could forget someone with that bad of breath?" She joked. Ralph chuckled a little and hugged his friend.

"So, do you feel any different," he asked curiously?

"Taller would be the first thing to come to mind Mr. Wreck-It," Rancis said for his girlfriend. Ralph looked over at the peanut butter themed racer and scowled.

"Oh yeah, you, are you treating Vanellope right," Ralph asked in a threatening tone. Since he was older, Rancis had more confidence while talking to Ralph.

"Yes I am sir, you needn't worry about me," Rancis replied as he stuck out his hand to shake Ralph's. Ralph took it and shook his hand, but not without giving a light squeeze. Rancis yelped and pulled his hand back.

"Come on Ralph, be nice," Vanellope said with a stern look on her face.

"I'm just messin' with you Rancis, I do trust you. So, what plans do you have for today?" He questioned.

"Well we were going to check out that new NASCAR game that was plugged in," Jubileena said sweetly, "would you like to join us," she offered?

"Sure I guess, Felix is spending the day in Calhoun's world today anyway," Ralph replied while rubbing his chin.

"Well then, let's get a move on!" Vanellope exclaimed. The five ventured toward the train to exit the game.

**(After another slow train ride…)**

"Here it is, _NASCAR: Challenge of the Champions,_" Swizzle read the sign. All five entered the gate and were greeted by a monorail. "Aw come on _another_ train! Why must we be tortured by slow vehicles?" Swizzle complained. They boarded and expected another five mile per hour train ride, but were taken by complete surprise. The monorail too off at 150 miles per hour and launched all five to the back of the train. Luckily, Ralph hit the back first and cushioned the blow for the four racers.

"Now this is my kind of train!" Vanellope shouted over the roar of the locomotive. The monorail lurched to a stop at the station. All the racers' eyes were big as saucers at the sight before them. A _massive_ oval track stood in front of them where thousands of people were cheering as loud as possible. Ralph let out an impressive whistle.

"Wow this place is huge, and I thought you're guys' track was big," he said. The racers did not hear him over the roar of the 12 cars on track and the fans. They all saw a black car with a white #3 on the side doing donuts in the grass.

"What is this place?" Swizzle asked loudly in astonishment. The roar had died down enough to where they could hear each other.

"Tailadeega Superspeedway," Vanellope read off of a jumbo-tron in the middle of the track. Suddenly, a tall man wearing sunglasses, an _STP _fire suit, and a cowboy hat appeared in front of the five.

"It's pronounced Talladega, and who might you four colorful people and Sasquatch be?" He asked. Then, the crowd disappeared and it was suddenly very quiet. The racer was joined by eleven others who were murmuring in agreement. Vanellope gulped and replied.

"I am Vanellope von Schweetz, president of _Sugar Rush_, and who might you be?" She asked nervously,

**END CHAPTER 2**

_A.N. Well here is chapter 2 all said and done. Ralph and our four favorite racers have just gotten their first taste of NASCAR. What will happen next? Find out in Chapter three of Nights of Lightning! Plus, I really wanted to give shout outs to the people who support this story: PrayerGirl, Random Visitor Girl, Weeelo, Andrea, Dixie Darlin, and my biggest fan, The Wild West Pyro. Thank you all for supporting my story. I am aiming for ONE HUNDRED reviews on this story. If I can get that, it would be a huge accomplishment. One more thing before signing off, I am posting a link that will take you to my YouTube channel where you can see my Sugar Rush car I made on my NASCAR game! __** watch?v=RV0HOQ9DY_0**_


	3. Sugar Rush, meet NASCAR

_Chapter 2 went better than expected. Again thank you all who reviewed and favorite this story. And for the FINAL time, the virtual cookie is growing stale since no one has guessed what movie I am parodying, last chance! Anyways, here is Chapter 3!_

Ralph and the four Sugar Rushers were still surrounded by the 12 other racers. "Hey buddy, you better not hurt my friends or I'll beat the living shit out of you," Ralph said, cracking his knuckles. Swizzle and Rancis both got in front of their girlfriends ready to protect them. The racer in the _STP _fire suit raised his hands in defense.

"Hey man, we're just curious, sorry if we came on a little strong, it's just that you five are the first visitors to our game," the racer said. Vanellope got back in front of Rancis to speak to the racer again.

"Well okay then, these are my friends Swizzle Malarkey, Jubileena Bing-Bing, Wreck-It Ralph, and this special guy here is my boyfriend, Rancis Fluggerbutter," Vanellope said, putting her arm around Rancis. The 12 racers chuckled at the names.

"Uh cool, really cool Vanellope, my name is Richard Petty, driver of the #43 _STP _Dodge," Richard said, taking off his sunglasses and flashing his trademark grin. The racer next to him in white and black fire suit walked forward to speak.

"I'm Dale Earnhardt and I drive the #3 _Goodwrench _Chevrolet," Dale announced, shaking the hands of all the Sugar Rushers and Ralph. The man standing next to him in a _Pepsi _hat and _DuPont _fire suit introduced himself.

"And I'm Jeff Gordon, I pilot the #24 _DuPont_ Chevrolet, and it's a real pleasure to meet you all," Jeff said with a warm smile. Dale stepped forward again to introduce the other nine racers.

"Okay this guy here in the _Hardee's_ suit is Cale Yarborough and he drives the #28 car, this one is David Pearson and he drives the #21 Motorcraft Mercury, and by the way, he and Richard are _fierce _ competitors against each other," Dale joked. He went back to the other racers, "Bobby Allison in the #12 Raybestos Brakes car, Tony Stewart in the #14 Mobil 1 Chevy, Alan Kulwicki in the #7 Hooters car, Rusty Wallace in the #27 Kodiak Pontiac, Darrell Waltrip of the #17 Tide Chevrolet, Bill Elliot in the #9 Coca-Cola Ford, and-," Dale was cut off by the last driver.

"And I am Jimmie Johnson, I have FIVE straight championships in the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet and I am the best there ever was, no one was, is, or will _ever_ be better," Jimmie said smugly. Vanellope was taken aback at his comment.

"Okay then Mr. Arrogant," she replied, "As a fellow racer, it is a privilege and an honor to meet you all," she continued. This sparked the curiosity of Jeff Gordon.

"You're all racers eh? Well what do you race," he asked nicely.

"We race go-karts made out of candy and other sugary snacks!" Rancis exclaimed proudly. This caused eleven of the NASCAR racers to burst out into laughter. The only one that wasn't laughing was Jimmie Johnson. He started shaking his head in shame and say, "What a fucking joke," under his breath. The laughter made Swizzle a little upset.

"Laugh all you want, it's what we race and we love it," he said through gritted teeth. Tony Stewart caught his breath enough to reply.

"We're sorry, b-but that is not what we ex-expected to hear!" He said between laughs. After the laughter had died down, Ralph was ready to leave for a drink at Tapper's.

"So does anyone want to get a drink and a bite to eat?" Ralph offered up. The four Sugar Rushers agreed and headed for the monorail. "Anybody else want to come? It's really good food and great service," Ralph said again. The only ones that agreed to go were Dale, Jeff, Richard, and Tony. The other eight declined and went to work on their race cars and practice the other tracks. When the nine avatars left, Jimmie Johnson went to talk to Rusty Wallace.

"Hey Rusty, what'd you think of those candy-kart racers?" he asked while leaning against the garage. Rusty took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead and put the hat back on.

"Well, they seem nice, and if they say they're racers, then they're racers Jimmie. Maybe we'll go check out their game sometime," Rusty said before going back to work on his #27 Pontiac. Jimmie snorted and kicked a soda can on the ground.

"If you ask me, I think it's all a big joke. I mean, that Rancis kid was wearing a Peanut Butter cup for a fucking _hat_," Jimmie replied, crossing his arm. Rusty sighed and put down his wrench and turned to the Lowe's sponsored driver.

"Listen to me Jimmie, they're nice enough to come and check out our game because they are racers, except for the giant guy of course, but why would they lie about being racers? Have you ever heard the phrase: 'Don't judge a book by its cover'?" Rusty pointed out. He was done talking and turned up his garage radio to drown out any distracting noises. Jimmie left and went to his hauler to think.

**(At Tapper's)**

The nine arrived at Tapper's and quickly ordered their food. Rancis was completely fascinated by the NASCAR drivers and wanted to learn more about them, so he asked them to talk more about themselves. "Is it alright if you fellows could tell us more about yourselves?" He asked nicely. Dale chuckled in response.

"You want to know more about us eh? Well I think Richard should start off then," he said while sipping his root beer. Richard cleared his throat and began his story.

"Well son, first of all, NASCAR stands for: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and it was developed in 1948 by Bill France Sr. And about me, I drove for my father's team, _Petty Enterprises,_ for 3 ½ decades. And in that time, I accumulated over 1,000 starts, seven Daytona 500 victories, seven championships, and 200 total races won. My favorite victory has to be my 200th and final win because I got it at Daytona and I beat Cale Yarborough, and I won in front of the President in 1984," he finished his story with a smirk and looked over at Dale whom started to spin his yarn.

"I began my NASCAR career in 1979 in the #2 car, and I won the Rookie of the Year honors in '79 and my first championship in 1980. I won six more cups between 1986 and 1994. It took me 20 tries to win my first and unfortunately only Daytona 500 in 1998. I accumulated exactly 76 wins was the best at restrictor plate tracks like Talladega and Daytona, right Richard?" He said chuckling, while Richard nodded a 'yes'. The four candy themed racers' eyes were wide and turned to Tony Stewart for another good story.

"Okay, my rookie season was in 1999 and I got my first NASCAR career win at Phoenix in September of 1999. I won my first championship in 2002 driving for Joe Gibbs and my second in 2005 for Joe Gibbs. However, things started to sour between Joe and I in 2008, and after that year and only getting one win, I left JGR to start a partner team with Gene Haas in 2009 to form _Stewart-Haas_ _Racing_. And in only three seasons with _SHR,_ I got my third championship in 2011 when I tied another driver for points, but I got the tiebreaker with more victories in the season. I currently have 47 career wins, yet no Daytona 500s in fifteen starts, but oh well, what can you do?" Tony said and took a bite from his burger. Everyone else turned to Jeff Gordon to hear his story.

"Let's see, my first race was actually Richard's last race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in November of 1992," he began and Richard nodded at the mention of the Atlanta race, "my official Rookie Season was in 1993 where I won Rookie of the Year, my first points victory came in the 1994 _Coca-Cola 600_ at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis later that same year. I won my first cup in 1995 for _Hendrick Motor Sports_, then again in '97, '98, and 2001. I have three Daytona 500s, nine road course victories, four total Brickyard 400s, and 87 wins and counting. And that's really it," Jeff explained. Vanellope, Swizzle, Jubileena, and Rancis were thoroughly impressed with the stories and stats of the champions.

"Wow, those are some cool back stories," Swizzle complemented, "I wonder how long it took your game programmers to come up with them." He finished. The four drivers looked awkwardly at each other.

"Back stories did you say?" Richard asked curiously, "Those aren't fake back stories; they're real stats and careers. We and the other eight racers exist in the real world," Richard explained. Swizzle face-palmed in embarrassment.

"That's really cool and all, really it is, but racing around in _circles_ all day seriously doesn't seem very challenging," Ralph said. He was trying hard to not sound like a douche-bag about it because he wanted Vanellope to be friends with them and he didn't want to ruin that for her. Luckily for him, Richard, Jeff, Dale, and Tony nodded their heads understandingly.

"Hey it's alright Ralph, a lot of people say that, but it really is harder than it looks. All the cars are built 'virtually' the same, so the real challenge of NASCAR is to beat other drivers, not other cars," Tony explained. Ralph breathed a sigh of relief, glad he didn't piss them off. Jeff Gordon looked up at the clock and stood up.

"Well, thank you for the lunch, it was great, but we have to get back to our game. I hope you understand," he said politely. Tony, Dale, and Richard followed suit and waved good-bye, but Richard Petty had one more thing to say.

"You're whole _Sugar Rush_ game is welcome to come back to our game at anytime," he said thoughtfully with a grin. He started to walk out, but was stopped by Vanellope.

"Same to you guys too, as we say in _Sugar Rush_: Come for the racing, stay for the candy!" She said excitedly.

"That sounds great kid, we'll try to stop by soon, maybe tonight," Jeff suggested.

"Yes that would be great if you could come ASAP," Rancis said quickly, "maybe you'll like our racing," he added in while the drivers left the bar. When they left, the rest of the group sat back down.

"You seemed really eager to see them again Rancis," Jubileena pointed out, "why is that?" Rancis sighed and thought about how to explain it.

"Well, they have amazing careers and they know a ton of stuff about stock car racing and I just thought maybe they could help me get better at racing," he explained sheepishly. Vanellope gasped and spat out her root beer.

"Rancis why do you think you need help? You're already good enough, you don't need any help," she said as sweetly as possible. She even gave him a peck on the lips to help him understand. Rancis smiled, yet firmly stood his ground, even while seated. **(A.N.: Cheesy yes, but whatever)**

"Nelly, it took me fifteen _years_ to win just one Roster Race, I think I do need a little help to get better," he pressed on. Swizzle sighed and set down his mug.

"Rancis, you've just had bad luck bro, and you _always _finished 2nd-5th in so many Roster Races, you are already pretty damn good," he argued.

"I appreciate you all trying to make me feel better, but I just want a little bit of help," Rancis said again, "plus, I'd like to learn to drive a stock car." He finished.

"Okay fine Rancis, I'm not gonna argue with you because I love you so much, so you can get some pointers from them if you feel you need some, and it would be cool to see you driving a stock car," Vanellope said, putting her arm around his neck.

"Thank you Nelly, I love you too," Rancis replied, kissing her cheek. The five got up, paid for their bill, and left the bar.

"Well it was sure nice seeing you all grown up kid," Ralph said to Vanellope, "I'll see you around," he finished before leaving for _Fix-It Felix Jr._

"See ya Stinkbrain," Vanellope called back! Jubileena, Swizzle, Vanellope, and Rancis made their back to _Sugar Rush_.

"Phew, we've been gone for awhile now, I wonder how the others are fairing," Jubileena wondered aloud.

"Well, they've had all day to practice the new karts, and we have plenty of time to practice them before the Roster Race," Swizzle pointed out.

"Then let's get to practicing," Rancis exclaimed excitedly before rushing down the Rainbow Bridge to the game.

"Wow, he sure is eager to try and impress those NASCAR drivers Vanellope," Swizzle said as he, Vanellope, and Jubileena walked normally down to the race track.

"Yeah I know, but let him have his fun Swizz. He'll practice with them for a day or two then realize he was always good enough," Vanellope replied to Swizzle. They all arrived at where their karts were and buckled in for practice. The other racers were taking a break after practicing for so long. The main four were glad to have a clear track for practice. Rancis sat in the updated _RV1_, gripped the steering wheel tightly and took a deep breath.

"I hope this all goes well," he said to himself as he took off to begin practice.

**END CHAPTER 3**

_A.N.: So here is chapter 3. This one is the longest so far and my favorite so far. I love to go on and on about NASCAR drivers and their stats. Now, to other NASCAR fans, this will sound weird, but all the drivers in Challenge of the Champions are in their mid twenties and have no family members in the game. The reason I am making them in their mid twenties will be revealed in later chapters. So, chapter four will take awhile to write because school is starting up again on Monday. Anyways, R&R please, 100 review goal is still open!_


	4. NASCAR, meet Sugar Rush

_Okay I am REALLY Sorry for the long wait. I had so much crap to do for school I barely had time to do anything. Anyways, I hope this chapter makes up for it. It's RACING time!_

* * *

Rancis, Swizzle, Vanellope and Jubileena had spent the last hour practicing their new karts on the track. The track was still the same, which was a little disappointing. "You know, with everything else that has changed, I can't believe the track is still the same," Vanellope said as she hopped out of her kart, "but I don't mind since our karts are twice as fast now," she finished with a slap to her kart.

"I'm sure there's a good reason for it Vanellope, maybe Tobikomi didn't have the money to change the track too or they felt it was good enough," Jubileena offered up, taking off her helmet. The girls turned when their boyfriends' karts approached them.

"That was so _sick _man, these karts are so much better than our dinky old ones," Swizzle said happily while shutting his kart off. He got out and struck up a conversation with Vanellope and Jubileena. While they were chatting, Rancis kept sitting in his kart thinking hard. This caught Swizzle's attention. "Hey Rancis, you alright bro?" He asked. When he got no response, Swizzle got Vanellope to get Rancis' attention. "Vanellope, can you help me out here please," Swizzle asked kindly. She nodded and went over to Rancis and kissed his cheek.

"Oh hi Nelly, what's going on here," he asked, a little frazzled.

"Well, you seemed kind of out of it babe, are you okay," Vanellope questioned with a bit of concern in her voice.

"I'm fine Nelly, I was just thinking about how long it took me to win with one kart, and now we have a new one, will it take me 15 more years to win another race," he said with a hint of depression in his voice. Vanellope groaned and swiveled his head around to the jumbo-tron.

"Look Rancis, you posted the third best practice time of the day, I think you already have a handle on it," she exclaimed with authority. She let go of his head and let him get out of his kart. When he got out, he hugged her tightly.

"Thank you Nelly, now we still have 45 minutes until the race, how about we go for a little stroll?" Rancis suggested, giving her his arm.

"I'd love to Flugs," Vanellope replied. They set off for the Candy Cane Forest.

**(In NASCAR)**

"Ok boys, we'll leave for _Sugar Rush _in ten minutes, so get ready to leave!" Richard announced over a blow horn. Surprisingly, all the drivers were ready to go since it would be the first time most of them would leave the game. Two drivers, Darrell Waltrip and Bill Elliot, were having a last minute chat.

"So Bill, do you think there are other girls in _Sugar Rush_ besides Vanellope and Jubileena," Darrell asked Bill, taking a swig of Budweiser. Bill shrugged and leaned against his car.

"I don't know Darrell, but like you, I hope there are. There are no girls here, except for those holographic fan girls, but you can't have a relationship with one," Bill replied. Darrell nodded and threw his bottle in the garbage.

"Well, we better get going Bill," Darrell said as they left the garage area. Their footsteps echoed throughout the silent area as they shut the door. They joined the other ten champions and departed for _Sugar Rush_. The train ride was rather quiet, save for the hard rock and roll playing over the speakers. Alan Kulwicki was the one to break the ice.

"So did you guys go to their game," he asked Dale. Dale shook his head in response. The seven time champ looked out the window at the electric cord as it sparked blue light. He became deeply caught in thought. "Okay then," Alan said as he turned to Tony for an answer.

"We didn't go to their game, but Vanellope showed us where it is," Tony said to Alan. The train came to a stop and the twelve departed the locomotive and entered GCS.

"Holy pits," Bobby Allison exclaimed as he took off his hat and wiped his forehead. They were all mesmerized by the different characters running around.

"This place is amazing," David Pearson pointed out. The others agreed as they stared in awe at everything. They all exited the gate from their game and began to walk toward _Sugar Rush_ when an alarm went off. The twelve pulled out tire irons, jack handles and other tools to defend themselves. A blue transparent man with round glasses and a clip board stopped Jimmie Johnson from exiting the game.

"Name please sir," Surge Protector stated, clicking open his pen. Eleven of the drivers cocked their eyebrows and gave the S.P. a weird look. Jimmie scoffed rudely and replied.

"Watch who you are talking to here bud; I am Jimmie Johnson the greatest driver of all-time," he announced proudly as he left the gate. The SP scribbled a note on the clip board and asked more questions.

"What game are you coming from sir," the SP asked, adjusting his glasses.

"I am coming from NASCAR: Challenge of the Champions, can't you read you moron?" Jimmie replied in an asshole tone. A few characters gasped and turned to watch what was unfolding. They had never seen anyone talk to Surge like that. However, Surge did nothing but scribble down some more notes.

"Final question, where are you going tonight sir," Surge asked him. Jimmie glared down at him like Anakin to Obi-Wan, and gave him the glare of death.

"I am going to _Sugar Rush_, are you writing a fucking _book_?!" he replied taking a swing at the SP. Luckily for him, the fist went straight through him. Surge wrote down a final note and let them all leave. "_Finally,_ I thought that jerk wouldn't let me go," Jimmie said in an angered tone. The group all entered _Sugar Rush_ and left a group of characters in a stunned state. Amongst them was Felix, leaving his game to go to _Hero's Duty_.

"Jimminy Jamminy, I never thought anyone would talk to you like that," he said to Surge. He saw what was scribbled on the clip board and gasped. Surge ripped it off and threw it away.

"That man right there is the biggest _asshole_ I have ever met in over 35 years here!" Surge said through gritted teeth. He disappeared quickly leaving Felix alone.

"Well, I hope I'll never be in the middle of that," he said and hopped over to his wife's game.

* * *

**(In Sugar Rush)**

When all 12 racers entered the world of _Sugar Rush_, Richard let out an impressed whistle. "Boy, when they said their game was made out of candy, they weren't kidding," he exclaimed. The other eleven looked around and their mouths started watering. A few sniffed the air, others licked their lips. But Tony Stewart's eyes went as wide as dinner plates and he started drooling like a dog staring at his master's steak.

"What do you mean _game?_ This place is _heaven!_" Tony exclaimed as he ran as fast as he could toward a lollipop bush. Darrell and Bobby rolled their eyes, while Richard and Jeff sighed as they made their way toward the race track. They all glanced over everywhere to check out the surroundings. Everything was bright and colorful and of course, looked delicious. Once they had arrived at the start/finish line, Swizzle was there to greet them.

"Hey there you guys are; right on time too. We're just getting ready to start," Swizzle said as he shook Jeff's hand. He pointed out the karts on the starting grid with his hands. "Well, what do you think of our karts now guys?" He asked with a smirk on his face. Some of the drivers went to check them out while the others went to explore some more. As Swizzle was chatting with Richard, he heard someone shout out his name.

"Hey Swizz, good to see they showed up," Vanellope called out, "how do they like it so far?" She asked as she and Rancis let go of each other's hand. She walked on up to the little group.

"They seem to like it so far," Dale chuckled, "this is a pretty cute game you guys have here," he finished. Dale began reminiscing of his first race in his game. Basically, this was _Sugar Rush's _inaugural race, and he was honored to be there to watch it. He took a sharp inhale of air and kicked the cinnamon dirt. This went unnoticed by everyone else though.

"Why thank you Dale," Vanellope replied, "anyway let's get to racin'!" She concluded. Vanellope ran as fast as she could to the Presidential Box and grabbed the microphone from Sour Bill. She caught her breath and announced, "The Roster Race is about to commence, racers please get to your karts!" All 15 racers made their way to their sugar coated karts. "Would you care to do the honors boys?" Vanellope asked the NASCAR champs through the microphone. They all looked at each other and got up to Vanellope's private box. "Hey, weren't there twelve of you? Where is Tony guys?" Vanellope asked. Jeff was about to answer when Tony appeared with an armful of sugary snacks in his arms.

"Sorry I'm late, did I miss anything?" He wheezed out as he sat down. The eleven rolled their eyes and turned back to Vanellope.

"So anyway, I am glad you guys made it and you guys can watch the race from here. It's the best seat in the house, trust me," Vanellope explained with a smart aleck smirk on her face. She handed the microphone to Darrell, whom turned it back on. Just as he was about to announce, Sour Bill piped up.

"Who let you in here?" He asked in a monotone voice, "Only the President and her boyfriend are allowed up here," he said with a stern voice. Richard stood up to explain the situation.

"We're invited guests of Miss Von Schweetz little green guy," he explained. Sour Bill squinted his eyes and stared down Richard. They stayed like that until Dale got up.

"This is ridiculous, look at me you sour puss," Dale exclaimed, taking off his sunglasses. He stared deep into Bill's soul, challenging him to make a move. Sour Bill's expression became a frightened one and he ran off.

"Okay, enjoy yourselves, please don't hurt me!" He shouted and ran away. Dale put back on his sunglasses and sat back down. If there was one thing he could do better than anyone else, it was intimidating people. Someone had to fill that role and he was glad he could. Jeff broke the awkward silence.

"Well, we got a race to watch, start 'em off Darrell," he said cheerfully. Darrell nodded and flicked on the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural _Sugar Rush_ race after the upgrade!" Darrell announced. The crowd roared in anticipation. The lights on the track went from red to yellow. All the karts' engines revved up loudly as the racers anticipated the start. When the light turned green, Darrell shouted, "BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY BOYS AND GIRLS, LET'S GO RACIN'!" All the racers took off at max speed down the front stretch. The twelve champions cheered with jubilation.

**(Racer's POV)**

Rancis timed the start perfectly and went from seventh starting position, to third. He was directly behind Taffyta and Vanellope. "Nice start Fluggerbutter, now try to keep up with the talent of _Sugar Rush_!" Taffyta mocked and drove off. Rancis accepted the challenge and gripped his steering wheel hard and kept in the tire tracks of Taffyta's kart. As they approached Gumball Gulch, the top speed of the RV1 easily caught the _Pink Lightning_. Rancis pulled side by side with Taffyta as the made the jump.

"See ya sucker!" Rancis declared as he cleared Taffyta's kart and began swerving around the giant gumballs. Taffyta was left in the dust as the gumballs rolled between the two racers. Rancis swerved to the left, then to the right, then back to the left. Even though he had only one career Roster win, he still knew the track like the back of his hand. He looked ahead and saw his girlfriend glitching passed the colorful spheres of death. He shook his head clear when he saw a _Sugar Cube _power up. Wasting no time, he swerved hard to the left to obtain the power up. The screen on his kart flashed multiple times until it landed on the perfect power up.

"_POWER UP!" _The regular announcer shouted. Rancis' kart spun backward and put itself in reverse as he aimed the ice cream mortar. "Have fun girls," he said to himself as he fired the red button. The giant scoop launched from his kart and sailed through the air. Taffyta shrieked and avoided it just in time, but not so lucky for Minty.

"OH CRAP, NO!" She shouted as the front of her kart was smashed by the cold, sticky mess. She stopped right in her tracks. Adorabeezle swerved hard to miss the wreck, but was clipped by a gumball and started barrel rolling. The other racers slowed to avoid said carnage and quickly made their way back up. Adorabeezle climbed from the wreckage and kicked her kart, only to grab her foot in pain.

**(NASCAR Champs)**

* * *

All twelve drivers had 'WTF' expressions plastered on their faces. This was racing they had never dreamed about. The candy themed karts were one thing, but _giant scoops of ice-cream?_ That was a little too weird for them. "Did Rancis just launch a giant scoop of vanilla ice-cream at that green girl?" Bobby Allison asked as he wiped his eyes.

"Never mind _that_ Bob, did you even notice the gumballs that were trying to smash them?" David Pearson asked. The racing was intense, no doubt about that, but they were still trying to reel in the fact that what they were witnessing, was completely alien to them. Tony even made a comment about what he was watching.

"Man this is some weird crap," he said with a mouthful of cotton candy. Every other driver nodded slowly. Never before had they thought using weapons would be allowed in any racing series.

**(Back to the racing ACTION!)**

* * *

The rest of the racers had cleared Gumball Gulch and were headed toward birthday cake peak. Rancis had landed off the power jump with Crumbelina only five car-lengths behind him. Crumbelina's kart had better top speed than Rancis' RV1, so she caught up to him pretty quickly. Rancis breathed sharply and darted his eyes from the road to his mirror several times. Crumbelina could tell he was a little nervous. She swerved to the right to pass him and Rancis tried to pull a block, but Crumbelina swerved back to the left and got around him

"Give it up Fluggerbutter, there's no way you're getting back by me," she shouted to Rancis. Rancis tried the same maneuver that Crumbelina pulled, but it only got him side by side with her. Rancis gently love-tapped her **(1)** on her passenger side door.

"Shove it di-Caramello, Rancis shouted back. The two began to repeatedly hit each other as they inched closer to the cake. Rancis allowed her to pull a quarter of a car-length in front and then hit her door with his left front wheel. The result was an ugly brown donut on the door which smeared the #8.

"YOU RUINED MY PAINT JOB YOU BASTARD!" Crumbelina shouted at Rancis as she tried to ram him. She hit him quite a few times, and as the birthday cake was _literally_ fifty feet ahead, Rancis acted quickly. He hit the brakes so as to not enter the cake two abreast since there was little room for error. However, hitting the brakes caused Crumbelina's right rear to hit Rancis' left front tire, which caused Crumbelina to spin out off into the trees. He heard her screech in frustration, _"I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS PRISSY BOY!" _Rancis chuckled as he shifted into a lower gear.

"What a drama queen, always complaining about how her kart looks," he muttered to himself. He looked at his screen and saw he was still in second, breathing a sigh of relief; Rancis sat down lower in his seat. However, his little rest was short lived when a sharp bump jolted him back to awareness. He looked in his mirror and saw Taffyta waving to him.

"Remember me Butterfingers?" She asked loudly. She hit him again and he felt his kart losing traction. He let off the throttle and turned his wheel to the right to keep his kart from spinning out. He really did not want to go flying off the cake, the landing would definitely hurt, plus his hair could get screwed up from rushing through the air. Taffyta took advantage of Rancis losing momentum and took second away from the peanut butter kid.

"Just you wait Taffyta; you cannot stay in front of me forever!" He shouted to her. Rancis followed her tire tracks as they launched out of the cannon with Citrusella and Torvald in tow. All four landed on the green and purple ramp within a half a second of each other. Rancis was able to maneuver his kart to be side by side with Taffyta.

"Good luck Rancis," she mocked as they drag raced down the straightaway that was gradually turning into vanilla ice-cream. The four could see the top of Rocky Road Mountain becoming taller and taller when they suddenly went pale. The announcer just announced that Swizzle, whom was in sixth, had just gotten Sweet Seekers. They looked in their mirrors at the rainbow colored dot behind them with a giant red cannon on the hood. The three projectiles launched at the speed of sound at the racers. One hit Citrusella, making her spin out and crash into the wall of the mountain. The second hit Torvald's kart, demolishing the rear end axle and causing her to lose traction in her rear tires, forcing her to come to a stop. The third was headed straight for either Taffyta or Rancis.

"SHIT!" They both shouted in unison. The two began to slam each other to make the missile hit the other racer. Rancis saw that the RV1 couldn't take too much more of hits, so he pulled away from Taffyta as she swerved into him. "Come on dammit," Taffyta said to herself. Rancis pulled about a _centimeter_ ahead of Taffyta, enough to make the missile hit her. "Not today Taffyta," Rancis said as the missile smashed into her beloved _Pink Lightning._ The bright pink and white kart launched into the air and began to tumble down the track. She came to a halt and got out, a little shaken up. _'Is she alright?'_ Rancis thought. He saw her throw her helmet down and scream, '_Yep, she's alright.'_ Rancis floored his kart to keep his lead on Swizzle, who had assumed third, courtesy of the carnage he caused. He could see Vanellope ahead of him still. How she hadn't pulled about half a lap ahead by now, he had no idea.

* * *

**(Back with the NASCAR champs)**

"Was that a bazooka?" Dale asked.

"Yeah, a jawbreaker bazooka," David Pearson responded. Jeff sighed and spoke.

"Well, when it comes to _this _type of racing, let's all agree to throw logic out the window; Tony, give me some of that candy please," he said. Tony handed him a piece of licorice. Richard however, was focused not on the weapon that Swizzle used, he was focused on how well Rancis was handling all the pressure.

**(Back to the racing ACTION!)**

* * *

With the race winding down, Rancis had caught up to three car-lengths behind his beloved girlfriend, but they were not alone. Swizzle was closing in from third, Gloyd had joined the party in fourth, and Jubileena had rallied from a slow start to show up in fifth. "Aw damn, more company," Rancis said as the others had caught up. The four formed a little pack to maximize their attempt to snatch the victory from their president. Entering the final two turns, the pack had reeled Vanellope in and if things were not intense enough, they were breaking apart and becoming a four wide freight train.

"Nice of you to join me!" Vanellope mocked as they all exited the final corner. The four pack had enough momentum to get along side Vanellope, making it a FIVE, yes, FIVE wide battle.

"THIS IS GONNA BE CLOSE!" Swizzle cheered. Being the daredevil, he of course loved close finishes. The five racers were all in a dead lock as they got closer to the finish line. They all held their breath, gripped the hell out of their steering wheels, and shut their eyes. They all crossed in a dead heat with the crowd on their feet.

"_TOO CLOSE TO CALL!" _The announcer said to the crowd, _"WHAT A FINISH!"_ The five had pushed the clutch in to stop their engines and coasted down to the end of the front stretch. The rest of the remaining racers crossed the line as the officials tried to declare a winner.

"Fans and racers, we're still trying to give you a winner, please sit tight," one of the marshmallow officials said. The fifteen drivers were drinking water. Crumbelina was silently crying as her masterpiece of a cart was still being cleaned by the clean up crew. She glared evilly at Rancis.

"YOU!" She shouted to him. Rancis looked behind him and saw one pissed off fancy girl. "You are gonna _pay _for ruining my paint job!" She shouted in his face and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Rancis cried out at the surprising strength of Crumbelina.

"BACK OFF SISTER!" Vanellope came between them. "I am speaking as a loving girlfriend and not as the president. If you hurt my Rancis, I will literally kill you, wait for you to respawn and kill you over again, _ALL NIGHT LONG,"_ Vanellope said with venom to Crumbelina. She backed off immediately as Vanellope's expression scared her to death. Vanellope calmed down and hugged Rancis.

"Thanks Nelly, I owe you one for that," he said as he hugged her back. She wrapped her arms around Rancis more to feel his hard biceps and she shuddered. "Mmmmm," Vanellope moaned dreamily.

"Am I interrupting something?" A voice broke their silence. The two looked up and saw Richard standing there.

"No of course not Richard," Vanellope said as she and Rancis let go of each other. Richard chuckled and continued.

"Well I just wanted to congratulate you two on fantastic performances. Especially you, Rancis, the way you handled the pressure throughout the race was incredible, you've got some talent." Rancis beamed with excitement.

"Thank you Richard, that means a lot," he responded as they shook hands. They all cringed as the loudspeakers crackled with Sour Bill's voice.

"Citizens, of Sugar Rush, for the first time in our game's history, we have a tie for the win. The winners are: Swizzle Malarkey in the 'Swirl Special' and Vanellope von Schweetz in 'The Wreck-It Mobile.' Congratulations and go home," he said as the jumbo-tron revealed the rest of the results.

"Congrats Nelly," Rancis said as he kissed her cheek. The other seven that would be on the roster were: Rancis, Gloyd, Jubileena, Sticky, Snowanna, Candlehead, and Nougetsia.

"Well, I'll see ya later then," Richard said, tipping his cowboy hat, "our stockcars are getting lonely," he joked as he and the other 11 left.

"See ya Richard," Vanellope waved. She smiled when she saw him stopping to talk with Minty. "Hey Rancis, I think Richard has a thing for Minty," she said to her boyfriend. He glanced over and chuckled when he saw Richard kiss Minty's hand.

"I think all of them have a thing for Sugar Rush's girls," Rancis replied. Indeed it was true, all of the NASCAR champs, except for Johnson, Yarborough, and Pearson, were flirting with the girls. After a few minutes, the NASCAR racers bid farewell to the girls. Vanellope grabbed the microphone and got on top of her kart.

"Congrats on everyone for a successful first upgraded roster race! And to those who made the roster, and especially to you girls who turned some heads, good going!" She declared. Everyone cheered loudly, save for our favorite Pumpkin Boy. Gloyd was happy he made the roster, but his heart ached, he saw Taffyta talking with one of the racers and laughing.

"Everyone is in a relationship except for me, what the hell man?" He said to himself and stared at Taffyta, "I'll never be with her now. Maybe a trip to Tapper's will help me," he said sadly as he made his way out of the game.

* * *

**(Challenge of the champions)**

"Well, after getting over the initial shock, that was a pretty good race," Jeff said to Tony and Dale as they leaned on the wall of the garage at Darlington Raceway.

"Yeah Jeff, especially with the free food they had," Tony replied excitedly, still getting over the jitteriness of the sugar.

"Plus, those girls are cute," Dale added, taking a sip of water. Jeff and Tony agreed and thought of the girls they had asked out. Suddenly, their thoughts were interrupted by running from behind them. The three turned around to see Rancis running in frenzy to them.

"Woah, where's the fire there Rancis?" Jeff asked as Rancis stopped to breath. He took in several short breaths before spitting out, "Please teach me to drive a stockcar!" The three looked weirdly at each other.

**END CHAPTER FOUR**

* * *

**Author Note:** **Please, please don't kill me for taking so long to update! School literally killed me! My English class had to write one essay every week! And my photography class had to take fifty pictures every weekend. I sincerely apologize for the long wait and I hope this chapter made up for it. And we see how much of an ass Jimmie Johnson is! Plus, I really want to give a shout out to Jeff Gordon. Yesterday at Darlington Raceway, he made his 700****th**** consecutive NASCAR cup series start and capture his 300****th**** career top-five finish. And another shout out I want to give to my two good friends on fanfiction who talk to me almost every day and give me support: The Wild West Pyro and Dixie Darlin. Really you two, thank you for the support and making me laugh. **

**(1) A love tap is just a slight tap one driver gives to another driver. It's not too hard to be called ramming.**

**Catch chapter five SOON! I PROMISE WITHIN THE WEEK!**

**Wreck-It Ralph OUT!**


	5. Shifting Gears

_A.N. Thank you to all who reviewed Chapter 4 and thanks to those who followed. Things take a turn this time, enjoy! _

* * *

"_Please teach me to drive a stockcar!" Rancis pleaded to the three drivers. They all looked at each other weirdly. Dale was the first to respond._

"What brought this one on Rancis? You did a great job with your candy kart tonight, why do you all of a sudden want to up and drive a stockcar?" Dale asked curiously, rubbing his chin. Rancis looked up at the Intimidator and had a flashback.

* * *

**(Flashback)**

_Rancis had been proud of his third place finish, but he still felt a major need to improve, so after the Roster Race, he chatted with Vanellope in the Candy Cane forest. "Rancis, I told you several times, you are one of the best racers Sugar Rush has to offer! You get top threes and top fives 90% of the time!" Vanellope exclaimed as she and Rancis were sitting in a tree. Rancis sighed and removed his hat to run his fingers through his thick golden locks._

"_I know Nelly, but I just want to be better-rounded on the race track! Is that too much to ask?" He asked quietly. They both looked into each other's eyes._

"_Rancis, if you do feel that you need to get some more experience, then I'll support you 110% ya whiner butt," she replied. Rancis smiled warmly and hugged her._

"_Thank you Nelly," he replied as they locked lips softly._

* * *

**(End Flashback)**

"Well Dale, I know I'm a decent enough driver, but I seriously want to get better and I thought that you legends could assist me in becoming the best driver I can be," Rancis explained with his fingers interlocked together in a pleading fashion. Dale, Jeff, and Tony looked at each other again and started to discuss the idea.

"What do you guys think?" Tony whispered Jeff and Dale. Jeff looked down at his feet and back up at the other two.

"I honestly think he is good enough, he performed exceptionally well tonight," he replied. Dale nodded his head.

"Yeah agree, but Richard is the one to make the final decisions around here," Dale pointed out. Tony was the last one to give his opinion.

"I think this could be fun and besides, they came to us first, so why not return the favor and make that kid the best racer the arcade has ever seen?" Tony said. The three thought about all the points they made and came to their conclusion. They turned back to the Peanut Butter boy.

"We'll see Rancis, we don't make the final decisions here, and Richard does. We need his opinion on the matter," Jeff explained. Rancis sighed and nodded.

"Of course, take your time gentlemen," Rancis replied. He took off his Reese's hat and held it in his hands, "just your consultation means a lot to me," he finished. Dale grinned at the humility Rancis had.

"Here kid, you can stay in my hauler for the time being until we figure out what we're gonna do," Dale said and tossed his key to Rancis. Rancis caught the key and smiled brightly.

"Thank you so much Dale! I promise not to trash the place," Rancis replied and ran off to find the #3 hauler. Dale chuckled and turned to Jeff and Dale.

"I seriously like this kid, he reminds me of when you started racing in '92 Jeff," Dale said as the three made their way to The King's hauler. Tony snickered and Jeff smiled.

"I know what you mean Dale. I think he can make a statement here. He's got the winning attitude and the humility," Jeff replied. Jeff then remembered his first race in NASCAR. The 1992 Hooter's 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, was probably the one race he calls his favorite. He remembered how anxious he was to race with some of his heroes; some of which were now good friends of his. He snapped back to reality when Dale knocked on Richard's hauler door and they entered.

* * *

**(With Rancis)**

Rancis was about as excited as a puppy with a new toy as he looked for Dale's hauler. "Hmm, Dale, Dale – ah here it is," he said as he turned the key in the keyhole. "These haulers don't look very big on the outside," he muttered. However, when he opened the door, his jaw hit the floor. The hauler was _MUCH_ bigger on the inside than the outside. "Sweet Reese's Puffs," he said as he slowly shut the door and admired the hauler. It was one big room filled with NASCAR history on the coffee table, the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor. There were die cast cars, newspaper headlines, magazine articles, pictures, hats and tons of other NASCAR related stuff.

Rancis turned his gaze over to a small kitchen area with a mini-fridge and stove. Rancis walked over to the fridge and opened it. Inside was filled with water and Pepsi, "Now _this _is the home of a racing champ," he said as he grabbed a can of soda and cracked it open. He sipped the beverage and walked over the couch in the living room. He laid back and sipped his soda again and flipped on the TV. He was watching the arcade news channel.

"_In other news today, Sugar Rush Speedway experienced its first ever tie in their roster race. The two winners were Swizzle Malarkey and the President, Vanellope von Schweetz," _the reporter announced. Rancis chuckled softly, "That's my Nelly," he said and flipped the channel. He landed on the sport's channel which was airing _Days of Thunder_. "Ooh, a NASCAR movie," Rancis said in awe and began studying the movie.

* * *

**(With Dale, Richard, Jeff, and Tony)**

The four were having their conversation in Richard's living room. Richard just made a pot of coffee and was pouring some for his fellow racers. He handed them the cups and then sipped his cup. "So, Rancis wants to be a NASCAR driver?" He asked the other three. Dale sat his mug on a coaster and cleared his throat.

"Yes Richard, he does, and he seems very enthusiastic about it too," Dale said to Richard. Richard picked the coffee pot and set it in the sink and walked around the kitchen bar and sat on his Lazy Boy.

"Not to mention he is a current racer and is very passionate about what he races," Jeff chimed in with a smile.

"I think Rancis would make a great addition to _Challenge of the Champions_," Tony added in, munching on some peppermint candy from a candy bowl, "it would make us seem more diverse in a way," he finished with a swallow of the candy. The three looked up at The King, waiting for a response. Richard clicked his tongue a couple times and stood up from his chair. He walked over to a window and looked outside at the lights of Darlington Raceway.

"Do you guys want an honest answer?" He asked, while staring at not only the track outside, but also his reflection, as if he were also asking himself. He saw Jeff, Dale, and Tony nod in the reflection. He grinned and his reflection grinned back.

"We value your opinion more than anyone here Richard since you're practically our leader," Jeff said. Richard grinned even more. He sighed happily and turned around.

"Well, that's good boys because here is what I think," he began, "I believe Rancis deserves a chance to be in our game because of his performance tonight and the passion he has for racing," he finished. The other three smiled. Jeff and Tony high-fived and Dale clapped his hands together.

"All right then, let's go tell our newest racer he's in!" Dale declared. They left the hauler to go tell Rancis the good news. While on their way, Tony was beaming with anxiousness.

"Can you believe the day we've had? We're plugged in for one day and we already have fans from another game _and_ we're taking another one of them under our wing!" He said happily.

"I know what you mean Smoke," Richard called Tony by his nickname, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful raceship," Richard finished. The four approached the hauler of Dale and opened the door.

**(With Rancis)**

* * *

Rancis was engaged with _Days of Thunder_. He had just got past the scene where Harry Hogge was checking out the new driver for Tim Daland. "Wow," he thought, "If this is what NASCAR is like for the driver, then I am _so _in," he said to himself. Then he remembered that Dale and them had to discuss it, and there was a possibility Richard could say no. Then he thought of the one thing that always made him happy: Vanellope. Thinking of her made him smile even if his face was set to 'frown.' But his imagination was interrupted by the door opening. He jumped up at attention and muted the TV. "Hello gents, how's it going tonight?" He asked cheerfully. The four smiled at what he was watching and sat down on the couch.

"_Days of Thunder _huh?" Jeff asked, "such a great movie Rancis," he finished. The sugary boy smirked and looked over at TV and shut it off.

"Oh before we begin Dale, I drank one of your Pepsis if that's okay," Rancis said shyly. Dale only chuckled at this, "It's alright Rancis, they reload anyways," he said. Rancis then looked nervously over at Richard. Despite the fact the two seemed like good friends, Rancis was still afraid that Richard would say no to his question.

"Rancis, we have come to a decision," Richard began. Rancis' face scrunched up and he started to sweat a little.

"So, can I race with you guys?" He asked, completely nervous. His heart pounded faster and faster as he awaited the answer.

"Rancis I'm sorry to say this, but you can't race with us," he said in a low voice. Rancis let his head droop slightly.

"Well, thank you for the consideration gentlemen, I'll see you around," Rancis said as he got up slowly. Tony and Jeff got up and blocked the door.

"You didn't let us finish Rancis," Tony said while laughing. Rancis turned around, utterly confused. He cocked an eyebrow at Richard.

"You can't race with us for a day or two because we need to program in a new car for you to drive," Richard explained as he grinned widely. Rancis' eyes widened and literally flipped out.

"YES, YES, YES! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" He screamed loudly and he jumped around with ebullience. He hugged the four champs and kept flipping out. Richard held him down to talk to him again.

"You're welcome son, just calm down," he said with a laugh, "I will program the new car tomorrow, and I'll let you know when it's ready alright?" he asked.

"It sure is Richard, take your time," Rancis said, still jittery from the good news. Rancis then remembered something, "What will my number be Richard?" He asked as he calmed down for the moment.

"You get to pick it and we'll put it on for you, have you thought of a number Rancis," Dale asked? Rancis shook his head at first and then came up with one.

"Actually, I would like to be #97 Richard if that's not taken currently," Rancis explained.

"Why that particular number," Jeff asked while rubbing his chin.

"Well, it's just that _Sugar Rush_ was plugged into the surge protector in 1997 so I just that I would represent my game," Rancis replied to Jeff. Jeff's eyes widened as he understood what Rancis meant. Dale patted Rancis' back with a grin on his face.

"Sounds good Rancis, but you have a full day of racing in _Sugar Rush_ tomorrow, so you get some sleep," Dale commanded. Rancis gave him a thumbs up and opened the door, but Dale stopped him, "and my advice, eat a ripe tomato before every race, it stimulates your mind and helps you focus," Dale whispered to Rancis. Rancis gagged at the mention of the fruit.

"Ewww, no thanks Dale, the only tomato I'll ever eat is in ketchup," Rancis replied as he left the hauler skipping. The four champs looked out the door at their newest protégé. They smiled as he walked briskly out of the track and then they stopped smiling and cocked their eyebrows as he began skipping and screaming on his way out. Jeff sighed and looked over at Richard.

"We've created a monster, I hope you know that," Jeff joked with Richard. Richard replied with a laugh as he left the hauler as well. Tony and Jeff said goodbye to Dale and left too.

"He might be bat-crap crazy right now Jeff, but he brings _free candy!_ I say let him go nuts," Tony said as they parted ways. Tony whistled the Old Spice theme song as he made his way across the hauler ally and ran into Jimmie. "Hey Jimmie, what's up tonight?" Tony asked kindly. Jimmie turned to him.

"Nothing much, just working on my car and talked to Wallace about those Sugar kids earlier," Jimmie replied. Tony nodded as he leaned against his hauler.

"What did you and Rusty talk about?" Tony asked curiously. Jimmie sighed as he remembered what they did talk about. His hot breath countered the cool night air and caused condensation to form a cloud in front of his mouth.

"Well Rusty seems to like them, but I honestly think it's all a joke. The racing was intense, but the idea is really stupid and the place gives you cavities and diabetes just from looking at it," Jimmie replied while removing his hat and running his fingers through his dark hair. Tony looked away and grimaced.

"Well, I got news for you, Rancis is going to be a driver here soon," Tony said. He may as well as let the hounds of hell loose.

"WHAT?!" Jimmie screamed loudly, "YOU'RE LETTING THAT GAY BROWN PRISS INTO _OUR _GAME TO RACE? HAVE YOU PEOPLE LOST IT?" He demanded. Tony backed off and stared him down.

"Look Jimmie, Me, Dale, Jeff, and Richard like him, and he deserves a chance, whether you like it or not," Tony said as he entered his hauler.

"This is a mistake Tony, you hear me? A MISTAKE!" Jimmie shouted at the closed door. He turned around and stomped back to the garage area.

**(Sugar Rush castle)**

* * *

Rancis skipped all the way through _Sugar Rush_ and even up to his girlfriends' room. He opened the door and she shrieked as she didn't expect anyone to open the door. Rancis quickly shut the door as he realized she was in a towel. "I'm sorry Nelly! Please don't be mad, I just wanted to tell you the good news!" He pleaded from behind the door for his life. He could hear her giggling in her room.

"It's alright Rancis, just knock next time okay Flugs?" She giggled as she put on her nightwear. "Okay you can come in, so what's the big news?" She asked as she opened the door. Rancis entered and sat down on the bed with her.

"Nelly, they said yes! I get to drive a stockcar!" He said proudly. Vanellope wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

"Congrats babe! That's so cool!" She said. Rancis returned the hug.

"So did I miss anything?" He asked her. She shook her head in response, "No I just talked with Jubileena and Swizz, that's pretty much it," she said.

"Cool, cool," Rancis replied. He looked up at the clock and saw how late it was. "Well I better go Nelly, we have a long day tomorrow," he said to his girl. He got up to leave and she pulled his arm. "What is with people keeping me from leaving?" He asked. Vanellope giggled and pulled him back to the bed.

"Stay with me tonight please?" She pleaded with basset hound eyes. Rancis could _never _ignore those eyes.

"Oh alright honey," he replied as he took off his jacket and shirt. They laid down under the covers and held each other. "I promise not to try anything," he said in her ear.

"Oh please Flugs, I know you don't have the balls to make the first move," she joked.

"Hey!" Rancis said, a little offended. He knew she was joking, but still, a guy doesn't like hearing that.

"I'm kidding babe, now get to sleep so you'll look good when I kick your sorry ass tomorrow," she said as she fell asleep. Rancis' eyes bolted open.

**End Chapter 5**

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_A.N. So, Rancis is now a NASCAR driver! He just needs a car now. Like I promised, chapter five within the week! I know this one is a little slower and more worded, but it's an essential turning point in the whole story, so basically it's one of the most important chapters in the story. And the next chapter is all about Gloyd and his crush! Two more things: 1) I uploaded a WIR fan video on YouTube. Just go to YouTube and type in Ralph and Vanellope Two steps behind and click on the video by mrnascar49. 2) Please when done with this chapter and before you review, take a moment of silence for Dick Trickle. Dick was a short track legend, winning 1000+ short track races across America. He took his own life on May 16 at age 71. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with the Trickle family._


	6. Hysteria When You're Near

_A.N. So here is Chapter 6! This is a Gloyd/Taffyta based chapter so bear with me. Plus I am typing up this chapter on my brand new laptop! On to the romance!_

**Chapter 6: Hysteria, when you're near**

Gloyd slowly and sadly walked through game central station. His deep brown eyes were glued to the flooring as his shoes scraped loudly on the surface. All the pain from injuries of all the wrecks he ever experienced while racing never hurt as bad as he was hurting now. The Pumpkin boy audibly sighed as he entered Tapper's Pub. Tapper greeted him with his usual kind banter.

"What'll it be tonight Gloyd?" Tapper asked kindly as he cleaned a glass behind the bar. Gloyd sat down on a stool, slumped his shoulders down and put his chin on top of his hands.

"Give me your biggest root beer you got Tapper," came Gloyd's depressed reply. Tapper could see the pain in Gloyd's eyes and immediately felt sympathetic for the kid. A few seconds later, Tapper set down Gloyd's root beer in the biggest glass his game had to offer. "On the house Gloyd," Tapper said with a smile. Gloyd gave a weak smile in response and took a slow long sip. He set the frosty mug down with a soft clank and let a single tear slide down his cheek.

_'I must look pathetic,'_ he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift to Taffyta. Throughout 15 years of racing with her, Gloyd had developed strong affections for the pink lollipop themed racer. Gloyd absolutely loved how strong-willed she was, how a single glare could make a grizzly bear run scared and how much of a great racer she was. Not knowing how to properly tell her his feelings, he resulted to pranking her to get her to notice him. Unfortunately, his plan backfired and she only seemed to hate him. Now, he'd lost his chance to be with her, and that thought made him sick to his stomach. He must've let more tears slide down his face because the next thing he knew, there was a soft hand on his shoulder. He looked over and saw a blonde haired gentleman with pale green eyes in his mid 20s, looking at him with concern.

"Are you alright there mate?" the gentleman asked Gloyd kindly. He had a thick british accent, _much _thicker than Rancis' slight accent. Gloyd moaned and collapsed his head on the bar.

"No, I'm feeling pretty crappy tonight sir," Gloyd replied, taking yet another sip of root beer. The man nodded and ordered a drink himself.

"One root beer please barkeep," the man asked Tapper kindly. As Tapper fixed the drink, the gentleman turned back to Gloyd. "Well I'm sorry about your troubles there mate," he sympathized as he took a sip, "Is it girl trouble?" he asked when he swallowed the soda. Gloyd looked over in a confused manner.

"How did you know?" He asked with a shocked tone as he wiped a tear from his eye. The man chuckled softly and took another sip.

"Just a lucky guess mate," he said as he sighed from the refreshing beverage. "When guys have girl problems, 98% of the time they head straight for their local pub, and the other 2% they sob uncontrollably and hold on to a picture of their ex. I prefer the pub option," he explained. Gloyd nodded and cracked a small smile. This guy was smart, and he actually seemed to care about Gloyd's problems.

"Hey I didn't catch your name sir," Gloyd exclaimed as he put down his empty mug on the bar. The man set down his half full glass and stuck his hand out,

"Elliott, Joe Elliott," he replied as they shook hands, "and who might you be mate?" Joe asked.

"I'm Gloyd Orangeboar from _Sugar Rush_," Gloyd explained to Joe. He then had a tingling sensation in his brain. The name Joe Elliott sounded _so _familiar, yet he could not put his finger on it. Gloyd then dismissed it and was about to ask Joe something else when four other men approached them. They all slapped Joe happily on the back and laughed,

"Joe you old bastard!" One of them, another long haired blonde guy, exclaimed with a grin, "where the bloody hell you've been?" he continued. Joe smiled and gave a slight hug to him as the other two sat down, but not without catching some stares from other patrons. One was good looking to the ladies. He had short blonde hair, perfect white teeth, bright blue eyes, and rock hard six pack, with no shirt on. All the girls swooned over his figure and some even started fanning themselves. The other man, had long dirty hair, was short and had only one arm.

"I've been talking with my new friend here Sav," Joe replied, "Gloyd here is from that candy go-kart game over by the whack-a-mole, _Sugar Rush_," Joe explained to the man. He then turned back to Gloyd and gestured to the three men, "These are my band mates, Rick 'Sav' Savage, Phil Collen, and Rick Allen," Joe began but was cut off by Gloyd.

"Holy glob, you guys are _DEF LEPPARD!"_ He shouted excitedly, but then noticed a missing member, "where's Steve at Joe?" Gloyd asked,

"He didn't want to come here Gloyd, said he wanted to lay off pubs for awhile," Sav replied, "So what were you two talking about Joe," Sav asked curiously as he leaned against the bar.

"Oh, Gloyd's having some girl problems Rick," Joe replied in a hushed tone, not wanting to upset Gloyd, but failed. Gloyd then was reminded of why he came to Tapper's Pub and began to feel depressed again. He sat back down and slumped his shoulders. The others fully understood what Gloyd was going through, so they wanted to know all the details of what was going through Gloyd's head.

"It's just, I love her, but I don't know how to tell her, and now I'm afraid that my chance to let her know is gone," Gloyd replied to the British band, and let a few tears form in his eyes. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his orange sleeve. "I must look and sound pretty pathetic right now huh?" He asked sheepishly.

"No of course not mate," Phil said as he swiveled around in the bar stool. He got up and grabbed Gloyd by the arms and drug him out of the stool. Rick Savage grabbed Gloyd's legs and together, the two carried him out of the pub with Joe and Rick Allen following suit.

""Hey! Where are you guys taking me?" He demanded as he was being carried across Game Central Station. The display caught the eyes of almost every game character in the station. It also brought on a few chuckles from some of the characters as well. Gloyd kicked his legs, trying to get out of the grip of Phil Collen and Rick Savage.

"Stop struggling mate, you're only making it worse," Rick Allen explained. "We're just taking you back to our game," he explained further. Gloyd stopped struggling to see the gate they were entering: _PyroSteria The Def Leppard Experience._

"Okay, but why are you taking me to your game? I think Tapper's is good enough to drown in my sorrows," Gloyd said as he gave up and let them carry him. When they entered, Steve Clark, the head guitarist, heard Gloyd's comment and scoffed.

"Drinking does not solve your problems mate, it only makes them worse and gives you even more problems," he said. Phil and Rick Savage put Gloyd down on a stool and stood around him in a circle. "So who is this guy Joe?" Steve asked the lead singer.

"His name's Gloyd Steve, he's a huge fan, but he says he's having some girl problems," Joe explained as hie lit up a cigarette. Steve nodded slowly looked over at the pumpkin boy.

"So, what is he doing here Joe? Not that I don't want him here," Steve asked as he drew up a glass of water. Gloyd took off his pumpkin hat and messed his hair a little. He sighed and sat down on the floor. The others looked at him and then back at each other.

"We're going to help him win the girl of his dreams Steve," Joe said, taking a puff of his cigarette. Gloyd jumped up in surprise. He started going nuts. How would they help him, but more importantly, why?

"Woah, woah, woah guys. I don't think that's a good idea," Gloyd exclaimed and started to pace around the game quickly. Phil and Rick Allen held him down and got him to gather his nerves.

"Easy there Gloyd, all we're going to do is assist you in asking her out. We won't ask her out for you, but what we will do is build your confidence," Steve said. Gloyd's mind went blank. Build confidence how exactly? He was already a race car driver, that took confidence. But what other confidence could there be for asking a girl out?

"And how do you plan to do that Joe?" Gloyd asked. "Do you have some confidence juice for me, or are you going to threaten to rip my balls off if I don't ask her out?" He questioned further. Joe and the rest of the band started chuckling. "Okay what is so damn funny now?" Gloyd demanded.

"No of course not Gloyd, you are going to sing a song about how much you love her and that will surely make her melt in your arms," Phil explained as he and Rick Allen let Gloyd go. Gloyd's eyes widened and he stared off into space. He knew that he could _not _sing well. All singing would do would assure that Taffyta would never want to be with him. Maybe writing a poem for her would work better, at least he could somewhat write.

"Sorry guys, I don't think that could work. I can_not_ sing at all. She'll listen for two seconds and then plug her ears and run away. Maybe if I write you guys a song and you perform it," Gloyd suggested. The odds of him actually singing for his crush were slim to none. Why would he want to embarrass himself before they were together. He knew that Taffyta liked a guy who could sing, so he tried his best to become a decent singer at best, but Rancis and Swizzle steered him away from singing when they told him he sounded like a dying beached whale. Joe sat Gloyd down in a chair and looked straight into Gloyd's eyes.

"Listen to me Gloyd. It does not matter if you could sing well. You could be the worst singer in the world, but as long as you sing from your heart with love and your crush knows it, the only thing that matters is that you gave it your best shot. And you should not feel ashamed if she still doesn't go out with you," Joe said. Gloyd took all of it in slowly. That was a good speech, and it did make him feel much better. But he was still unsure if it was the best idea, yet he couldn't think of anything better, writing stuff took way to long and he wanted his answer _fast._

"That was a good speech Joe," Gloyd complemented, "but since you five are being so nice and offering to help, I'll give it a shot," he announced proudly. The five Brits cheered for their friend. Gloyd took the microphone that was in the mic stand and turned it on.

"What song are you planning on singing Gloyd?" Joe asked as he dug out a guitar. It was _very _rare and unusual when Joe brought out his guitar since he was the lead vocalist, but this was a special occasion and he wasn't going to be the main singer.

"I have one in mind Joe," Gloyd said with a smirk, "I've listened to you five for years on CDs and I have the _perfect_ song to sing to my crush; let's just say, it makes me _hysterical_," Gloyd finished as he cleared his throat. The band immediately knew what song he was talking about, and tuned up their guitars/bass. Rick Allen tested out his electronic drum kit while everyone else tuned up. They practiced for a good thirty minutes.

**(Thirty Minutes Later)**

"Holy crap Gloyd, you sing amazingly!" Steve complemented as they stopped for a break. Gloyd was sweating from the intense heat of the stage lights and intensity of the song. He was surprised himself, the upgrade must've changed his singing voice!

"Thanks Steve, I had no idea I could sing that well myself. I think this'll work guys!" He said excitedly. He was getting very hot and sweaty so he decided to follow Phil and take his shirt off. "Not as ripped as you Phil, but I thnk she'll like it," Gloyd joked with Phil.

"Yeah, that's something else for her to like about ya mate," Phil chuckled and took a swig of alcohol. "Now then, we need to know her name to get her in here," Phil said with a swallow. Gloyd set down his water bottle and took a deep breath, knowing that they'll laugh at her name, he braced for it.

"Her name is Taffyta, she's a big fan of pink and she has silvery hair," Gloyd described her to the band. Shockingly, they didn't laugh.

"Alright then Gloyd, I'll go get her for you," Rick Allen volunteered. Gloyd nodded and Rick left the game to go to _Sugar Rush._ He couldn't believe it, after 15 years, Gloyd would _finally _get his answer as to whether or not Taffyta liked him. He was nervous too, as Joe could tell. "Hey, buck up mate, I was nervous too when I had to sing in front of a crowd for the first time. My advice, is to think of something that always makes you happy," Joe schooled Gloyd. Gloyd nodded and thought of the other thing besides Taffyta that made him happy: WINNING.

**(With Rick Allen)**

Rick made his way through Game Central Station, looking for _Sugar Rush._ Of course, having only his right arm, other game characters stared. Rick was so used to his disability that it didn't even bother him anymore, nor did the stares he got. It was like a badge of honor, being so successful with only one arm, and being a successful drummer no less! He found the gate to the sugary racing game and entered. "Holy shit," he muttered. The sight before him made his mouth water. Sugar treats everywhere, even the _sky!_ "Maybe I'll get a snack on my way out," he said to himself as he made his way to the castle. He knocked on the door and a little green ball answered.

"Yes?" Sour Bill answered. Rick was taken aback by the small stature of the game character and at the slow dreary speech.

"Hi, my name's Rick Allen, and I am looking for the leader of the game please sir?" He asked politely. Sour Bill nodded and shut the door. A few minutes later, he arrived back with a tall raven haired cute girl.

"Can I help you sir," Vanellope asked nicely as she saw his one arm. Rick noticed her staring and chuckled.

"Don't worry about my arm there Miss, just an accident. But my name is Rick Allen and I am looking for a girl named Taffyta," Rick explained to Vanellope. She nodded at his explanation of the disability.

"Actually, Taffyta is inside, I'll go get her," Vanellope said and let the drummer in. Rick sat down on a chocolate chair and patiently waited. "She seems to be a big fan of blue," he commented as he looked around at the blue tapestries and walls. He was getting pretty hungry and started to eye ball the chair he was sitting in. He looked around to see if anyone was watching and then broke off a piece of the back with his hand. "That's some good chocolate," he said as the chocolate melted in his mouth. He didn't notice that Vanellope was back with Taffyta.

"Um, Mr. Allen?" Vanellope asked as she fought back laughter. Rick choked a little and swallowed the candy. "Uh, um I wasn't eating the chair Miss uh-" he stammered out. Vanellope and Taffyta burst out laughing. "My name is Vanellope and this is Taffyta," Vanellope said in between laughs. The two girls caught their breath and calmed down.

"Okay Vanellope, nice meeting you but I really need to talk to Taffyta here," Rick explained kindly. Vanellope nodded and left the room. Rick and Taffyta were left in awkward silence for a few moments. "So Taffyta, I need you to come back to my game if you want," Rick said to her as they just stood there.

"Why do you need me in your game Mr. Allen?" Taffyta asked kindly. She thought he was cute, and the one arm deal made him look tough. But she was still cautious, Tobikomi knows what he really wants.

"Well, there is someone there who really wants to see you," Rick explained to her. Taffyta's face immediately twisted into confusion. She really didn't know who this guy was, and there was someone who wanted to see her? It sounded fishy, so she asked him if she could bring a friend.

"Is it alright if I bring a friend with me Mr. Allen?" She asked. Rick nodded and opened the door for her. She thanked him and texted Crumbelina. As they waited for her, Taffyta wanted to know more about Rick. "So, what exactly is your game?"

"It's _PyroSteria" _Rick replied, "It's a game about a band I am in, Def Leppard, and I'm the drummer Taffyta," Rick continued, taking a drink of chocolate milk. Taffyta's jaw dropped to the ground.

"YOU'RE THE DRUMMER?" She asked in disbelief. "How in the world can a guy with one arm be the drummer?" She asked crazily. This was seriously the most amazing thing she had ever heard.

"I have an electronic drum kit. I use my left foot in place of my left arm," he explained. Taffyta felt really inspired. If a man with one arm can still drum, then anything is possible. "Is that your friend there Taffyta?" He asked as he threw away his bottle. Taffyta looked over at Crumbelina whom was adjusting her hat.

"Yeah that's her," Taffyta replied. "Hey Crumbs, let's go," Taffyta said to her friend, " we have to get over to this guy's game because someone there wants to see me," she explained. Crumbelina nodded and followed the two.

**(In the Def Leppard Game)**

As soon as the three made it into the game, they were greeted by a dark stage with only a pale white light on center stage. Rick ditched the girls and joined everyone else on stage. "Um, hello, Rick? Where is everyone and who wants to see m?" Taffyta asked as her patience wore a little thin. Then suddenly, the stage lights all came on to reveal the band and Gloyd on stage. Gloyd looked up at the girl of his dreams and grabbed the microphone.

"I'd like to thank you for coming," he said as if he were talking to a crowded stadium. "This song is for the girl of my dreams, it really describes how I feel every time I am near her and I hope this let's her know how much she means to me" he continued and swallowed nervously. The band counted down for him to begin the song, "1-2-3-4." As the first notes of the guitars hit his ears, Gloyd got his nerves under control and began singing.

_Out of touch, out of reach, yeah_

_You could try to get closer to me_

_I'm in love, I'm in deep, yeah_

_Hypnotized, I'm shakin' to my knees_

Taffyta and Crumbelina were awe-struck at Gloyd's singing. They couldn't believe that he could sing this good considering how bad he used to be. Crumbelina knew that the song was for Taffyta because it was obvious to everyone in their game that Gloyd had a major crush on Taffyta, except Taffyta of course.

_I gotta know tonight_

_If you're alone tonight_

_Can't stop this feelin'_

_Can't stop this fire_

Taffyta was mesmerized by not only Gloyd's voice, but also by his sweaty six pack. True, she had always had a crush on him, but was afraid to admit that she liked the immature little brat. Fifteen years of bottling up her feelings were finally being let loose. Ever since the upgrade, she found that Gloyd was more mature than before it, and that made him much more attractive to her. "He's amazing," she whispered breathlessly.

_Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria, oh, can you feel it, do you believe it?_

_It's such a magical mysteria_

_When you get that feelin' better start believin'_

_'Cause it's a miracle, oh, say you will, ooh babe_

_Hysteria when you're near_

_Out of me, into you, yeah_

_You can hide, it's just a one way street_

_Oh, I believe I'm in you, yeah_

_Open wide that's right, dream me off my feet, oh, believe in me_

_I gotta know tonight_

_If you're alone tonight_

_Can't stop this feelin'_

_Can't stop this fire_

_Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria, oh, can you feel it, do you believe it?_

_It's such a magical mysteria_

_When you get that feelin' better start believin'_

_'Cause it's a miracle, oh, say you will, ooh babe_

_Hysteria when you're near_

As the song hit its bridge, Gloyd opened his eyes and saw that Taffyta was hypnotized almost by the song. He looked over at Joe who was playing his guitar with Phil and Steve. Joe gave him a thumbs up and a grin and mouthed, '_You're doing good mate.'_ Gloyd smiled and looked back up to Taffyta, He took the microphone and left the stage to get closer to her. He got right next to her and sang.

_I gotta know tonight_

_If you're alone tonight_

_Can't stop this feelin'_

_Can't stop this fire_

_Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria, oh, can you feel it, do you believe it?_

_It's such a magical mysteria_

_When you get that feelin' better start believin'_

_'Cause it's a miracle, oh, say you will, ooh babe, ooh babe, oh_

_I get hysterical, hysteria_

_When you get that feelin', you'd better believe it_

_Better start believin' 'cause it's a miracle_

_Oh, say you will, oh babe, say you will_

_Get closer to me, get closer baby_

_Baby, closer, get closer to me_

When the song was finished, Gloyd dropped the microphone and looked at Taffyta. "Well, what did you think Taffy?" He asked in his old immature voice. Taffyta struggled to find the words. Crumbelina gave Gloyd a thumbs up and knocked Taffyta's back. Taffyta was still struggling to find words. "W-well," she slowly began, "I don't know what to say, so here is what I think," she said and grabbed both sides of his head. She smashed her lips onto his and began a pretty heated make-out session. Crumbelina and the band all slowly backed away to give the new couple some privacy. Gloyd could hear Sav say, "Congrats mate," as he left. Eventually, the two had to break for air and they gasped loudly.

"So I take it you thought it was okay?" Gloyd joked as he touched his lips with his finger to feel the tingle.

"Okay? Gloyd, that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. And I'm glad you feel the same. I've liked you for a long time Gloyd, but I couldn't get it out," she explained as they held hands. Gloyd chuckled and hugged her. "I went through the same thing Taffyta, but now I have a huge weight lifted off of me," he responded. Taffyta snuggled her head in the crook of his neck and sighed, For the both of them, this was the most comfortable time they've ever felt in their lives. "We better give Def Leppard their game back," Gloyd said as he realized they held each other for ten minutes. "Oh okay then," Taffyta replied as they left. "Now I have something else to look forward to at the start of the day," Gloyd said to her.

"What's that Gloyd?" Taffyta asked curiously as they waved good-bye to the band. "I get to wake up next to the most beautiful girl in the arcade," he replied with a cheesy grin. Taffyta 'awwed' and kissed his cheek. Their happy moment was interrupted by Rancis' loud cheering. They both saw him running through GCS screaming like a crazy person. "Well I feel sorry for Vanellope, she has to deal with that tonight," Taffyta joked. Gloyd gasped loudly.

"_The Taffyta Muttonfudge_ can make jokes?" He mocked. Taffyta pulled his ear to get him to shut up. "Now, now honey, if you want to be with me, you can't act like a child," she teased.

**(Back with the band)**

The five band mates were all having a pre-sleep smoke together. "We done good boys," Joe said, taking a puff. The others nodded and took puffs.

"You think we should open a datin' service Joe?" Steve asked, Joe shook his head and put out his cigarette. "Nah Steve, our songs can do that for us."

**END CHAPTER SIX  
**

* * *

_Author Note: Well here is my first ever chapter typed up on my macbook. The text app __doesn't have a word counter so I was shocked when I saw how long a non-racing chapter was. But yeah, please don't dislike this chapter just because there is no racing at all in it. Even in blockbuster movies, the story needs to take at least one break from the main characters. And I thought this chapter went great with using my favorite song of all time with a cameo from my favorite band of all time. I do not own Hysteria obviously. But please follow, favorite, and review. Chapter five was really disappointing for the low number of reviews. Oh well, enjoy your day or night wherever you are. Wreck-It Ralph signing off._


	7. A Rookie Again

**Chapter 7: A Rookie Again**

_Thank you to the people who reviewed and followed this story after Chapter 6. So much support for this story really warms my heart every time I read a review. I am still aiming for triple digit reviews for this and I think I'll get there. And on another note, I got hired at a local Movie Theatre FULL TIME. That means I won't be able to update as often, even with A Sugar Coated Rivalry. Just a heads up. So please enjoy Chapter 7! Rancis' first taste of a Stock Car!_

* * *

After a peaceful night's rest, the 15 racers of Sugar Rush were ready to tackle the day. Rancis was jittering more than Peter Griffin when he first tasted Red Bull due to the fact that tonight, he would get his crack in a stock car. "Geez Rancis, if you keep up that jittering, someone will mistake you for a massage chair," Vanellope said as they waited by their sugary karts for the race day to start. Rancis braced himself on the RV1.

"Sorry Nelly, I'm just so excited for tonight, I get to drive my first stock car!" Rancis exclaimed. Vanellope giggled and turned back around to Swizzle and Jubileena. The two were holding each other close and chatting.

"You know I swear I saw Taffyta and _Gloyd_ walking back to the game last night together," Swizzle said. Jubileena gasped loudly, drawing more of Vanellope's attention. "I say it's about time," Swizzle continued. Vanellope walked briskly over to Swizzle.

"Swizz, did I just here you right, are Gloyd and Taffyta _finally_ get the freakin' guts to tell each other?" Vanellope asked while holding Swizzle's shirt collar. She spoke loud enough for the rest of the racers to hear. They began to murmur about the juicy gossip.

"Hey you can't blame Gloyd Nelly, it took both Swizzle and I a long time to confess our feelings to you and Jubileena," Rancis said. Vanellope let Swizzle go and turned back to Rancis.

"I get that Flugs, but Taffyta never told us which guy she liked. She was in complete denial," Vanellope responded and strapped on her gloves. All the racers went silent as the lollipop and pumpkin themed racers arrived at the starting grid. They were smiling and holding hands until they noticed everyone staring.

"Um. what is everyone looking at us?" Gloyd asked. Swizzle and Rancis cheered for Gloyd and Jubileena and Vanellope surrounded Taffyta. "Hey, what's going on boys?" Gloyd asked Swizzle and Rancis.

"Congrats Bro! It's about time you grew a pair and asked her out," Swizzle commended Gloyd. Gloyd blushed at the teasing torment his friends started to put him through.

"Oh Gloyd, how much have you two sucked face now?" Rancis said and flicked his pumpkin hat. Gloyd grumbled in frustration and put his racing helmet on, trying his best to ignore the teasing. Rancis threw his arm around Gloyd's neck in a bro hug. "Come on Gloyd, we're only kidding, plus I'm getting back at you for teasing me when I asked Nelly out," Rancis explained. Gloyd sputtered and turned around.

"Well, I guess you two could be worse," Gloyd started, "it's good to have friends like you," he finished and put his gloves on. Swizzle shoved Rancis out of the way to talk to Gloyd. Swizzle and Gloyd were a little closer than Rancis due to the fact that Rancis is more about looks than say cars and other guy things.

"Have you two given each other pet names yet? I mean, I call Jubileena Jubee, she calls me Swizzy," Swizzle began his conversation with the orange colored boy, "and Rancis calls Vanellope Nelly, and she calls him, well so many damn nick names I've lost count," Swizzle joked.

"What can I say Swizz? My Flugs needs a lot of nick names," Vanellope overheard.

"Richard calls me his little Mint Chip," Minty blurted out without thinking. The others looked over in shock. Minty blushed a deep scarlet red and covered her face in embarrassment. Jublieena, Taffyta and Vanellope were still wide eyed at the outburst.

"I saw the two flirting last night, but even I think that was fast," Vanellope commented as everyone's minds caught up with their bodies. "Anyways Taffyta, how does it feel to finally have your dream guy to yourself?" Taffyta darted her eyes around, looking for an answer.

"It's great. All those years tormenting me to tell him my feelings mean nothing now! And it was so romantic how he declared his love for me!" Taffyta replied in hushed excitement. Jubileena and Vanellope squealed again.

"What did he do Taffyta? Surprise you with dinner? Send you secret chocolates?" Jubileena asked. Both Taffyta and Vanellope shook their heads. "No because Taffyta left with some guy named Rick with one arm last night," Vanellope explained.

"Yeah, it turns out Rick is from a video game about a band called Def Leppard," Taffyta explained, "and Rick happens to be the drummer, shock I know, and he and his bandmates helped Gloyd sing a song about how much he loves me," Taffyta finished with a smile on her face as she fondly remembered the happy night. Vanellope smirked in proudness and Jubileena hugged Taffyta whom promptly shoved her off. "Yeah I still don't do hugs, except from my Pumpkin Pie," Taffyta said.

"AW CRAP!" Gloyd was heard in the background. "It was only a matter of time bro," Swizzle chuckled.

_'QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!" _The game went off. "Did anyone ever notice the Quarter Alert voice sounds a lot like Morgan Freeman?" Sticky said as everyone on the Roster List waited patiently by their karts.

* * *

**(In Challenge of the Champions)**

The twelve NASCAR drivers were rolling their 850 horsepower stock cars onto pit lane, waiting for an arcade goer to dispense their two quarters to race. "Alright gentlemen," Richard began, "after arcade hours and the Roster Race at Sugar Rush, Rancis will arrive here again to begin driving lessons on a stock car," Richard finished. A few of the champions murmured amongst themselves excitedly.

"And we are all excited about it," Jeff said, "this should be a rewarding experience for all of us," he concluded and popped a few blueberries in his mouth. Tony emerged from the garage area and wiped a grease stain off of his hat.

"Well, Dale and I just put the finishing touches on Rancis' car, it's not painted, but you get the idea," Tony announced. Dale followed him, putting a chocolate heart in his pocket. Jimmie needless to say, was pouting next to his Lowe's car.

"Oh yeah, we're _all_ so excited to have a kid who drives _candy_ to race with us! We're lucky that we regenerate in our own games or else I'd be writing my last will and testament by now," he said sarcastically. Dale turned quickly on his heel and walked over to the El Cajon native.

"Listen Jimmie, not a lot of drivers start out with the support they need. But with a little help, Rancis could be Jeff good, or even Richard good," Dale explained, "yet I don't think he can with you belittling him every time we bring him up!" He said angrily and smacked Jimmie with his hat. Jimmie grumbled and put on his helmet.

"So Rich, were are we going to test Rancis at tonight?" Dale asked as he readjusted his hat. Richard put his sunglasses away on his dash and put on his helmet which pictured his seven championship trophies and a little golden crown picture.

"Well, I thought about that Dale," Richard began and took a bite of a mint klondike bar, "I think we should take him straight to Atlanta first since the tires wear down so fast there that it would teach him car control early. Then we progress him to like Pocono, Darlington, and Talladega," Richard finished and threw his wrapper away.

"That's why the programmers made you the leader Richard," Dale said.

_"QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!" _The game announced. "Aha!" Said Alan Kulwicki, "I told you guys the quarter alert voice was Morgan Freeman!" He said triumphantly as all 12 strapped in their cars and the track morphed from Daytona into Sonoma Raceway.

"Hey Jeff, we got a fan of yours racing!" Tony whispered loudly. Jeff's car glowed as he was selected.

"Have you got what it takes to beat the champions? Let's find out!" Jeff delivered his pre-programmed line.

**(Closing Time!)**

"Congratulations, you beat the champions and proved to be one of the best," Richard's programming declared as the final arcade patron left. Mr. Litwak locked up for the evening and the game characters began their social lives. "Alright boys, now all we have to do is wait for Rancis to finish up his Roster Race and then we can begin," Richard said as all the drivers stretched. Meanwhile, over in Sugar Rush, the Roster Race was just getting under way.

"As the President of Sugar Rush, this is such an honor to say: LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Vanellope loudly exclaimed as she hit the countdown button and hopped in her kart. The counter reached zero, and the racers took off.

"COME ON PEOPLE LET'S HURRY THIS UP!" Rancis shouted as he zoomed passed everybody quickly. He assumed the lead by Gumball Gulch after starting fifth and never looked back the entire race. Even Vanellope was stunned at Rancis' maniac driving, he was always so precise and calm, but not so much tonight. Rancis was like a Flamingo on Ritalin drinking Coffee. "See you Nelly!" He shouted as he pulled even further away.

"Holy Sega, I never thought I would see something like that!" Jubileena said to Swizzle. Swizzle was also stunned due to the fact that he knew Rancis to be the kind of racer who tries to save his car until the final segments of the race to pounce for victory. The whole race was basically for second place, not even Vanellope's glitching was fast enough to catch Rancis who set a new course record. He finished about 47 seconds ahead of second place, Vanellope.

"Good lord, what an ass whipping'," Gloyd said as eventually everyone crossed the finish line. Vanellope walked casually up to Rancis and playfully nudged him.

"I never knew you had _that_ in you," she said and discarded her helmet. Rancis hugged her tightly and smiled.

"Yeah, but I wanted to get out of here fast and get on over to NASCAR," he replied and laughed like a maniac. Vanellope giggled up a storm and playfully smacked his bum.

"Well go get 'em Flugs, I'll catch up after I change out of my sweaty fire suit," she said and walked briskly over to the castle. Swizzle, who was waiting to talk to Rancis, took the opportunity.

"Hey Rancis, Jubee and I were wondering if- hey, where'd he go?!" He asked loudly, "Rancis was right _here_ three seconds ago!" Swizzle said and looked around. His girlfriend tapped him on the shoulder for him to turn back to her and the newest Sugar Rush couple.

"Uh Swizzy, he's long gone back to the NASCAR game; but Taffyta and Gloyd would like to have a double date with us, just nothing too gushy romantic for Taffyta," Jubileena said. Swizzle sighed in defeat and put his arm around his girl's neck.

* * *

**(Back to NASCAR)**

Tony and Dale had rolled Rancis' car onto the pit road of Atlanta Motor Speedway. Tony took it for a few lap practice session to see if it worked properly for Rancis. Tony exited the blank black #97 Chevrolet and smiled as he took off his helmet. "Well, she runs good and is pretty fast," Tony said, "we'll just have to see how Rancis likes it," he finished as Dale checked the stop watch.

"Wow Tony, you ran a 27.50," Dale said with an impressed whistle, "I'd say that's a fast piece we got him," he finished and put the stop watch away. Jeff and Richard were busy setting up the two way radios in the car and on one of the pit boxes.

"Okay, we're all set here Richard," Jeff said as he wiped sweat from his brow, "all we need now is to have Rancis get here to test," he finished. Richard put his cowboy hat and sunglasses on and dug out a fire suit from his pit box.

"I'm gonna give Rancis one of my spare fire suits, for luck," Richard said. He pulled out the fire suit and set it on top of the hood of Rancis' car. The other drivers were finishing up working on their cars. Jimmie was leaning on his car, wearing sunglasses and a disapproving scowl plastered on.

"We're waiting, where is that little cavity anyway? Is he making out with his boyfriend?" He said with a hearty laugh. The others shot him glaring daggers and made him leave back to the garage area. When he left, Rancis arrived driving the RV1 through a cloud of fog.

"Hey! There he is!" Tony said and put his arm around Rancis' neck. Rancis laughed and shoved Tony's arm off. He walked on over to Richard, Jeff and Dale and shook their hands. Rancis took off his hat and set it on top of his car.

"Well, I'm ready for anything guys," Rancis began, "just to let you know, I don't know fudge about stock cars, but I trust your guys' words of wisdom more than anyone," he finished. "No offense to the rest of you," he assured the other champions. Richard cleared his throat and presented his fire suit to Rancis.

"Hey Rancis, I want you to have my old fire suit, for luck. I think you're deserving enough to wear it," Richard said. Rancis took it and held it in front of him. His mouth was agape and his eyes were wide as he felt it.

"Th-thank you Richard," he said and put it on. It fit him like a glove. Richard then handed Rancis an orange helmet and a pair of Racing Gloves. The helmet had Rancis' name in cursive on the top of the visor. The gloves had Rancis' initials in cursive on the wrist and they were yellow and orange. Rancis finished putting everything on and looked in a mirror, being his old self. _'Oh damn I look good in this outfit,'_ Rancis thought to himself.

"Alright Pretty Boy, get in that car," Dale said. Rancis climbed in the car and buckled in. "Okay Rancis, now for Atlanta, the surface of this race track is very abrasive. Your tires will be worn out after just a handful of laps," Dale explained, "so you have to be really careful of not losing control and busting your ass against the wall. But you also have to be careful off of turn four, if you hit it wrong then you're going to slap the wall and end your day," Dale finished. Rancis took everything in and nodded.

"Okay, start her up Rancis," Jeff said. The car roared to life and Tony and Richard patted the top of the car. Rancis shifted the car in to first gear and took off. The eleven champions cheered as Rancis entered the track. By turn three, Rancis was into fourth gear and flying.

_"Okay Rancis, you're starting lap one, give it all you got,"_ Richard radioed to him. Rancis crossed the start/finish line at full throttle and was doing 200 miles per hour entering turn one. He gently lifted off of the accelerator to enter the turn. He entered the turn high and diamond the corner down the low line right on the white line between the groove and the apron. Rancis quickly picked the throttle back up and got an excellent run off turn two down the back stretch. The champions watched in silent awe as Rancis raced around the track. The Sugar Rush racer entered turn three doing 195 miles per hour on the high line and rode around the wall. He let off the throttle and quickly slammed it back down and ran off the high line off of turn four. Rancis crossed the start/finish line doing 197 miles per hour. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Rancis shouted in his radio and cut off the engine.

"_Nice job Rancis, bring her on pit road,"_ Richard radioed. Dale looked at the stop watch and let his jaw drop. He showed it to Tony and Jeff whose jaws also dropped. "Good lord,"Jeff said. Rancis coasted down pit road and stopped in front of the pit stall. Dale unhooked the window net and showed him the stop watch. "Well, how was that guys?" Rancis asked and took off his gloves.

"27.20, that's three tenths of a second faster than what Tony ran earlier," Dale said. Rancis climbed out of the car and was greeted with cheers from the champions.

* * *

**(With Vanellope)**

Vanellope had switched from her fire suit to her mint green tank top and skin tight cargo shorts and some sandals. She was still extremely hot from being in her fire suit so she was still sweaty. "See you guys! I'm off to see Rancis race a NASCAR!" Vanellope said to her friends. As she was leaving, she could hear Minty say, "Say hi to Richard for me!" Vanllope chuckled as she exited Sugar Rush. When she arrived, she could hear a car starting up. She ran down Atlanta Motor Speedway to the garage area and found Jimmie roaming the garage area. "Hey Jimmie what's up?" Vanellope asked kindly.

"If you're looking for your boyfriend, he's just starting to drive his car," Jimmie said in a condescending tone. He paid her no attention until he saw what she was wearing. He checked her out and shuddered.

"Um thanks Jimmie, uh I'll see you later then," Vanellope said, a little uncomfortable. She began to leave when Jimmie stuck his arm out against the wall between Vanellope.

"Hey sweet thing, why date that brown queer, when you could date a guy like me? I've got this cool beard and five championships," Jimmie bragged. Vanellope tried to go around him, but he stopped her. "Hey, I know how to please a woman," Jimmie said suggestively and traced her hip. Vanellope punched Jimmie in the nose and kneed his groin. He doubled over in pain and fell over.

"My Rancis knows how treat women like a person you perv!" Vanellope shouted and ran toward pit road. When she arrived, she found Rancis just exiting his car.

"Nice job kid, you were great for your first time!" Richard congratulated and slapped Rancis' back. Vanellope pouted when she realized she missed Rancis driving, but was happy that he was happy. She ran up and hugged him.

"Good job Flugs!" She said, hoping he would buy that she was there. He kissed her and hugged her.

"Thanks Nelly," Rancis said as they parted. Rancis turned back toward his new friends, "Thanks gentlemen, I'll see you tomorrow!" Rancis said as he led his girlfriend out of the game. "So, how did you like it babe?" Rancis asked her.

"You were great out there Flugs," Vanellope said as she kissed his cheek. Rancis could tell something was up with her.

"Is something wrong Nelly?" Rancis asked they boarded the train. "No, nothing at all hon," Vanellope said quickly. Rancis gave her a disapproving look. She finally gave in and spilled the beans, "Okay, well before I saw you driving, Jimmie kind of came on to me," Vanellope said. Rancis' eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched. "He traced my hip with his hand and tried to get me to dump you," she explained. Rancis roared with rage and punched a wall.

"I AM GONNA KILL HIM!" Rancis shouted. Vanellope calmed him down and let him breathe.

"It's okay Flugs, I kicked his ass," Vanellope assured him with a kiss. Rancis' breathing got back down to normal and so did the color of his face. He held her and said, "That's my girl."

* * *

**(With Jimmie)**

Jimmie angrily got up and walked back to his hauler, bruised and humiliated. He rubbed his nose and walked slowly. "Stupid little whore, teasing me and then beating me," he grumbled to himself. "Wait till I get her in bed, then she'll know what a real man is like," he said as he entered his hauler. When he shut the door, he was tackled by an assailant from behind. He collapsed to the ground in pain. "GOD DAMMIT! I JUST GOT BEAT UP!" He shouted to the shadowy attacker who whacked him on the head with a pipe. Jimmie woke up a few minutes later behind his dinner table with the attacker in front of him, hidden by the shadows.

"Good evening Mr. Johnson," the unknown person said. Jimmie tried to get up but found out he was tied down.

"Let me go you son of a bitch," Jimmie threatened.

"Now now, that's no way to talk to your new partner," the figure said and slapped Jimmie.

"What the hell do you want?" Jimmie demanded. The figure chuckled and slid a piece of paper in front of Jimmie. "You do want to be the greatest racer ever right?" The figure asked. Jimmie nodded. "Well, sign here and you will be, but you'll also be able to take over the game. The others don't appreciate you do they? They need to know who is the best," the figure coerced. Jimmie smirked and signed the contract. "Excellent choice, just do as I say and you will be the leader of the game in no time." The two chuckled evilly as Jimmie signed the contract.

"Finally, I will be appreciated for being the best there ever was," Jimmie said. "Get ready you assholes, you will bow to me."

* * *

**END CHAPTER 7**

_So here is chapter 7. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the long wait, as I said, I focused a lot on my other stories and my new job. But now Rancis has experienced his first taste in a NASCAR. How will he race with the big boys later on? And what do you think of Jimmie trying to get with Vanellope? Anyway, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Chapter 8! Keep on Racing!_


	8. A Change of Pace

**Chapter 8: A Change of Pace**

_A.N. *Hides inside the Movie Theatre I work at* SORRY SORRY SORRY! I didn't mean to let another month go without updating! *Ducks as a flaming bottle of beer comes flying through the window.* More people wanted A Sugar Coated Rivalry to get finished, I had A TON of work to do, and I started a new story, Drivers, Start Your Engines. But here is Chapter 8 for Nights of Lightning. Last time, Rancis got his feet wet with a test session at Atlanta Motor Speedway and we saw Jimmie try to put the moves on Vanellope who kicked his ass. AND we saw Jimmie make a deal with, well we'll just call this person, The Devil for now._

_By the way (and I don't know WHY I have to mention this) I do not own Wreck-It Ralph or otherwise, there would have been A LOT more racing and a lil Vanilla/Butter at the end. Sorry Vanilla/Pumpkin __fans!_

* * *

Both Rancis and Vanellope rode the NASCAR train in silence after the reveal that Jimmie had tried to get with Vanellope. Despite Vanellope taking care of the situation, Rancis was still fuming to himself. Once the train came to a stop, the two exited and saw Gloyd, Taffyta, Swizzle, and Jubileena walking through GCS to Tapper's. "Hey guys!" Vanellope yelled and glitched herself and Rancis over to their friends. The other four looked over and smiled.

"What's up Rancy and Vanny?" Gloyd chuckled. Rancis and Vanellope grimaced at the nicknames Gloyd gave them. Both Taffyta and Jubileena giggled and Swizzle shook his head.

"We just got out of Challenge of the Champions," Vanellope explained, "Rancis was testing out his first NASCAR!" She exclaimed excitedly and hugged Rancis. Swizzle and Gloyd fist bumped Rancis.

"How was it Rancis?" Swizzle asked as he cocked an eyebrow. Being the game's DareDevil, Swizzle was really interested in cars that could drive 200 mph and staring death in the face at every turn. Rancis smiled and jumped around slightly. Nobody saw him this excited since he won his first Roster Race only a few days before.

"IT WAS AMAZING!" Rancis yelled. Vanellope had to do her signature kiss to get him to calm down. Rancis drew in some deep breaths to explain the rush he got. By this time, the six had entered Tapper's and ordered root beer. They all felt at home with the glasses clinking on the bar top and other characters having a swell time. Rancis took a big gulp to get the energy to explain everything at once. "Oh my Mod guys, it was such a rush of adrenaline. 200 mph into a 24 degree banked corner. The G forces tried to work against me, but I fought them hard and turned a lap even faster then Tony who first tested my car," Ranics said rather quickly and downed another drink. Swizzle nodded proudly while enjoying Jubileena cuddling against him.

"I know this is suddenly 'your' thing Ranics, but I'd definitely like to try racing one of those cars soon," Swizzle said and popped some fries in his mouth and in Jubileena's. Rancis chuckled as he ordered his fourth root beer.

"I'd like that too Swizz, but it's up to Richard," Rancis explained, "but he is really nice and Dale, Jeff, and Tony also like tutoring new drivers, so you may get to Swizzle," Rancis finished and ordered his fifth root beer. Gloyd noticed this and joked with his friend.

"Rancis, order anymore of those and your bladder will explode," he said with a hearty laugh. Suddenly, Rancis heard nature calling and he darted for the bathroom. Taffyta giggled and hugged on her new boyfriend.

"You're so funny Gloyd," she said and kissed his cheek. Swizzle, Jubileena, and Vanellope all had their mouths slightly open.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Taffyta?" Jubileena asked. Taffyta looked at her friends in a confused look.

"What? Gloyd's giving me a chance to change for the better," Taffyta explained, "Gloyd's teaching me to loosen up a bit more and I'm teaching him how to be more serious, win win!" She exclaimed and downed her root beer. Vanellope rolled her eyes and ordered some pretzels from Tapper who happily brought her some.

"Okay, that was _too_ close," Rancis said as he sat back down in his bar stool, "I ran in there so fast, I BAM!, ran straight into Ryu," Rancis laughed, "he almost beat me up, but once he saw how bad I had to go, he let me off," Rancis finished as he munched on some of his girlfriends' pretzels.

"So, anything else exciting happen to you guys in the NASCAR game? Or is that going to happen tomorrow night?" Gloyd asked. Rancis and Vanellope both looked over at each other with questionable looks on their faces. Rancis looked away and nodded slowly as he bit his lower lip to suppress an angry growl. Vanellope sighed and swallowed the last of her pretzels.

"Well, one other thing _did_ happen Gloyd," Vanellope started, "Swizzle and Jubileena know this guy," she continued and motioned to her two other friends, "while I was heading to watch Rancis test drive, Jimmie Johnson, tried to, well _get fresh_ with me," Vanellope said nervously. Jubileena sat up from Swizzle's shoulder and gasped while Swizzle slammed his mug on the bar top.

"WHAT?!" He asked angrily. He couldn't believe that fact. Sure Swizzle knew Vanellope was very attractive, and that some guys might harmlessly flirt with her, but he never thought they would go as far as to get fresh with her.

"Did he do anything Vanellope?" Taffyta asked worriedly. Vanellope shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"No Taffyta, I kicked his ass. He's such a pussy," Vanellope replied. Rancis chuckled loudly at her remark.

"Well, I kind thought he was a creepy pedo with that beard of his," Jubileena remarked. They all looked at the clock and gasped when they realized that it was already 11:00 PM!

"Holy Mod! We gotta get to bed soon," Rancis stated, "we have a helluva busy day ahead of us, well some more than others," he winked at Vanellope who started giggling. The six paid Tapper their bills and left. The couples held each other's hands as they strolled through GCS. "So, are you guys going to come watch my Flugs here kick ass in NASCAR tomorrow night?" Vanellope asked the other four. Swizzle, Jubileena, Taffyta and Gloyd all looked at each other with anticipating looks.

"Sure thing Rancis!" Swizzle said.

"Hell to the yeah!" Gloyd exclaimed with a fist bump to Rancis. The Reese's boy smiled at his friends' encouragement.

"Thank you guys, that really means a lot," Rancis replied. "Oh, check out this picture of me in my firesuit that Richard Petty gave me," Rancis said as he dug out his phone. Swizzle whistled with fascination while Gloyd's jaw dropped.

"Holy crap, that's a nice firesuit Rancis," Gloyd said as Ranics put his phone away. Taffyta and Jubileena blushed at the fact that the picture was taken right as Rancis had just exited the car and he was sweating, which caused the firesuit to stick to his body and show off his muscles. Rancis and his bros were still talking when Vanellope noticed the slight blushes on Jubileena's and Taffyta's cheeks.

"You two better stop blushing, or Santa's gonna have some competition this year," Vanellope joked. Jubileena and Taffyta shook their heads in embarrassment to get the blush off their faces.

"Sorry Vanellope, but Rancis is very good looking in that firesuit," Jubileena said, "but not as good looking as my Swizzy of course," she finished while stealing a glimpse at Swizzle's rear.

"Or my Pumpkin Pie," Taffyta added. Vanellope chuckled and slapped her two friends on their backs.

"Hey, just keep your hands off him and we won't have any problems, now let's go home," Vanellope said. The six walked through the gate to Sugar Rush and hopped in their karts. They drove off in Thunderbird formation until they reached the bottom of Rainbow Bridge where they were met, with a surprising sight.

"Jeff?" Rancis asked as Jeff Gordon was holding hands with Citrusella. Jeff's head snapped around at the sudden intrusion of his conversation with Jubileena's re-color. Citrusella blushed and put her hands behind her back while Jeff nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"O-oh hey Rancis, fancy meeting you here huh?" Jeff came up with. The other six Sugar Rushers rolled there eyes at Jeff's statement.

"We kinda live here Jeff," Swizzle said. Jeff cringed at the humorous mistake he made.

"Right, well I was just trying to find you to tell you good luck tomorrow, and that driving in a pack of cars, is very different than running it solo," Jeff advised. Rancis nodded at the advice while Vanellope rolled her eyes again. But it was Taffyta who stated the obvious.

"Sure Mr. Jeff, just keep lying to yourself about you and Citrusella, we know what's going on," she said and drove off with Gloyd. Jeff smiled in embarrassment and came clean.

"Well she got me, yes Citrusella and I are going out, but hey she's cute," he complimented while Citrusella hugged on him.

"Yeah okay Jeff, I'll see you tomorrow," Rancis chuckled as everybody left Jeff and Citrusella alone. The four met up at the castle where they parted ways for another night.

"Well, that triple date was fun, but we got some cuddling to do, see you in the morning for some racing, then we'll meet you over in NASCAR to watch you kick some butt," Swizzle said as he and Rancis shook hands.

"Have _fun_," Vanellope said to Jubileena with a wink, causing Jubileena to blush as red as her hat. She and Vanellope parted and Swizzle drove Jubileena back to his house. This left Vanellope and Rancis standing together under the starlight, with the candy bars of the castle gate cutting a line between them. "You know Nelly," Rancis started. Vanellope turned her hazel eyes to Rancis' baby-blue ones. "sometimes, I think to myself, I want more than a handful of wins in Sugar Rush, but then I realize that I have you, the best victory I could've ever hoped for," he said as he kissed her cheek. Vanellope smiled and hugged him. The gate was locked, so Vanellope and Rancis had to break it apart to get in.

"I'm sure Uncle Felix can fix that no sweat," Vanellope said as they approached the castle. A few minutes later, Rancis tucked his girlfriend in bed and kissed her forehead.

"I love you Nelly," he said as he climbed in with her. Vanellope kissed his nose and wrapped her arms around his torso. She loved the warmth and the smell of peanut butter radiation from his body.

"I love you too Flugs, good luck tomorrow," she said and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**(With Swizzle and Jubileena)**

The two were laying in bed together (and no nothing happened) resting. "Hey Swizzy?" Jubileena asked sweetly.

"Yeah baby? What's up?" Swizzle asked groggily as he was in between sleep.

"Do you think Rancis will do good in NASCAR?" Jubileena asked curiously. Swizzle rolled over to face her.

"Well, he's got the talent I can tell you that, and he's got great instructors from that game," Swizzle added, "plus he's got a great girlfriend to cheer him up," he finished. Jubileena, not being the jealous type, sat up and lightly punched Swizzle. "But not as great and as _perfect_," he emphasized, "as you," he concluded. Jubileena laid back down and curled up next to him.

* * *

**(With Jeff and Citrusella)**

The two spent their whole time together just walking through GCS and talking. But it was time for them to retire to bed, and they bid each other ado. Jeff had escorted her back to her blueberry house like the gentleman he was. "Jeffy?" Citrusella asked her new boyfriend. Jeff turned back around as he was in the process of walking back to his game.

"Yes Citrusella?" Jeff asked sweetly.

"Would you like to stay with me tonight?" Citrusella asked him with puppy dog eyes. Jeff used every ounce of strength to not give in. Sure, it was no doubt he loved her, but it was only their first date.

"Citrusella, I do care for you, but this was only our first date, and I want to take things slow if you can believe that," he said with a chuckle, "but maybe when we know each other a little more, then I will. But that's not saying we can't hang out, you can come watch Rancis race in my game tomorrow if you want," Jeff told her with a smile.

"That's what I wanted to hear Jeff, I knew you were the one," Citrusella said as she kissed him. They parted ways again and Jeff walked back to Challenge of the Champions. Back in the game, Richard was testing out Rancis' car for the Phoenix race they would hold for him. They needed to surprise him to keep him on his toes by running different tracks every night. He climbed from his car to talk to Dale, Tony and David Pearson.

"Welp, she runs good with that setup," Richard said as he wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, "let's see how Rancis'll like it tomorrow," he finished as he took a swig of water from his water bottle.

"Do you think he'll do good in a pack though?" Jeff asked as he strolled in through the garage.

"That's what I'm worried about, but he won't learn unless he practices with that," Richard replied. Everyone noticed that Jeff seemed happier than usual, and that he had some blue lipstick on his lips.

"Jeff, where did you go again tonight?" Rusty Wallace asked him. Jeff cocked an eyebrow in confusion, usually nobody cared where anybody went.

"Why do you ask Rusty?" Jeff asked in return. He hoped that they wouldn't guess he was with someone. His stomach turned a little. He knew they would be glad for him, but they were family and as he knew, family likes to embarrass family.

"Well one, you seem a little happier than usual, two you smell like blueberries and candy, so you must've gone to Sugar Rush, and three, you have blueberry lipstick on your lips," Tony said while stifling a laugh.

"Shit," Jeff mumbled and wiped his mouth. Tony laughed and the others joined in. "Yeah laugh it up guys. Richard, I know about you and Minty, and Tony don't even get me started on Torvald," Jeff threatened.

"How do you know?" Tony stopped laughing and glared at Jeff.

"I have my ways Stewart," Jeff replied. "Now, does the car handle good for Phoenix?" Jeff asked. At this time, our favorite egotistical Lowe's sponsored racer entered the garage with somewhat of a smile on his face.

"What's with you?" Cale Yarborough asked Johnson. Jimmie smiled even wider and came up with an excuse.

"Oh you know, just happy that we get to race together and I'm turning a new leaf and I want to help Rancis," Jimmie said. Darrell Waltrip dropped his wrench, Rusty started choking on some water, and Alan Kulwicki accidentally punctured a hole in his tire with a torch.

"What did you say Jimmie?" Jeff asked.

"I said I want to help Rancis now. I see that I was being unreasonable you see," Jimmie explained as he crossed his fingers. Luckily for him, everyone believe him.

"Well, I guess it's good to see you feel the right," Richard said. Everyone went back to work on their cars except Dale.

"Hey Johnson, come here a minute," Dale said sternly. If there was one racer Jimmie actually feared, it was Dale.

"I want you to know I ain't buying this act of yours," Dale said, "I got my eye on you, and if you do anything that I see wrong, I'll wring your neck and tear you one," Dale warned with 'the look' plastered on his face.

"Don't you mean tear me a 'new' one?" Jimmie asked.

"Yeah, you wish pretty boy," Dale joked and climbed into his #3 car to practice. Jimmie snuck around the garage with a pea shooter and blew a dart into Dale's right front tire. Dale started to drive around the flat 1 mile Phoenix Raceway, until his tire gave way and he hit the wall.

"Mess with me now Earnhardt," Jimmie said as Dale pulled back into the garage with massive damage to the right side of his Goodwrench Chevrolet.

* * *

**(Back with** **Vanellope)**

Vanellope was happily cuddling with her boyfriend, but she was in the middle of a nightmare. In it, she was watching Rancis race around Talladega Superspeedway, leading the pack with only a lap to go. But suddenly, his car wrecked and started to demolish the catchfence. Vanellope tried to scream but no sound escaped from her mouth. Richard, Jeff, Tony, and Dale were suddenly around Rancis' car wearing all white clothes. "He's gone now," Dale said in a monotone voice. Then Jimmie appeared 200 feet tall and started laughing maniacally. Vanellope bolted up with a cold sweat encasing her body and breathing becoming difficult. Somehow, her bolting didn't wake Rancis, who was sound asleep with a smile on his face. "It was probably nothing," Vanellope told herself before falling back into an unsure sleep.

* * *

_A.N. So again SORRY I didn't update this in over a month and sorry that there is no __racing, but I assure you that Chapter 9 WILL have Rancis' first official NASCAR race commence. And I can't believe that it's been since March that I started this story so Yeah I know I've dropped the ball on this, but with school starting soon, my hours at the movie theatre will be cut, and I can work even more on this. And I do not own the race tracks or sponsors mentioned in this story. BUT I DO OWN THE NAME OF THE NASCAR GAME!_


	9. Rough, in more ways than one

**Chapter 9: Rough, in more ways than one**

_Dark Demon 122: *Notices Army* Well uh, that's a very persuasive argument there. BUT, I have the Jeff Gordon brigade AND Jr. Nation to back me up. *Hundreds of THOUSANDS of rednecks and normal people show up* You're move._

_Dixie Darlin: Vanellope's grown up now, she can say whatever she wants. As long as Calhoun, Felix, or Ralph doesn't hear ;)_

* * *

After a peaceful nights sleep, Rancis woke up more excited than ever. Today, would be THE day that he would finally race with NASCAR champions. Vanellope woke up from their bed moving as Rancis got up to get dressed. "Morning my beautiful Nelly," Rancis said and kissed her nose when he saw her wake up. Vanellope smiled and yawned and hugged Rancis.

"Morning Flugs, you sleep well?" Vanellope asked and threw off the covers to get up.

"Better than well Vanellope," Rancis replied and put on his hat, "I slept like a log Nelly. And I can't wait for tonight. You'll be there right?" He asked and leaned against the bed frame with basset hound eyes.

"Of course Rancis, I wouldn't miss it for the world," she smiled and cuddled against him. "Where do you think you'll race tonight Rancis?" Vanellope asked. Rancis bit his lower lip as he thought.

"Well, I only know of two race tracks so far, Atlanta and Talladega," Rancis replied while clicking his tongue. Vanellope froze up and her heart raced as she remembered her nightmare the previous night. Rancis sensed her tense state and pulled away to look at her. "Is something wrong Nelly?" He asked. Despite knowing how tough her psyche was, he was really concerned about her nervous stature. Vanellope didn't want to make Rancis second guess racing with his new friends and mentors, so she didn't say anything.

"No, nothing's the matter Rancis, I'm just _super _excited to see you race tonight!" Vanellope so convincingly lied. Luckily, Rancis bought it and released her.

"Okay then, I'll see you at the track Nelly!" Rancis called as he left the room. Vanellope went into her bathroom to take a shower to calm herself down. After her brief shower, Vanellope assembled her racing gear and headed for the racetrack. Once she got to the racetrack and got in her start position next to her fellow racers for the gamers, Vanellope put on her helmet, gloves, and goggles and took a final swig of water. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Swizzle.

"Hey Vanellope, are you excited for Rancis' race tonight in Jeff's game?" Swizzle asked while holding his helmet under his arm. Vanellope swallowed the last of her water and chucked the bottle into a nearby garbage can.

"Yeah I am Swizzle, why wouldn't I be?" Vanellope asked him. Swizzle looked around Vanellope to Rancis who was idly chatting with Gloyd.

"I mean, what if he is _really _good in a stock car?" He asked, "is he going to stop racing in her for Roster Races?" Swizzle continued. Vanellope shook her head in disbelief.

"Of course not Swizzle, I'm sure Rancis will make time for both _or_ make Sugar Rush a priority," Vanellope replied. Swizzle shrugged and put his swirl helmet on. As he walked away, Vanellope couldn't help but think about Swizzle's cautious words. Would Rancis really abandon the Roster Races to race with his new friends? Or would he race with them in moderation and on Saturday nights when there was no Roster Race? She shook it off and hopped in her kart when a quarter alert sounded off. Back with Swizzle, he was just finishing off his conversation with Jubileena when the QA went off.

"So Jubee, after we watch Rancis' race tonight in NASCAR, would you like to come by and watch me practice archery? I just took it up and built my own bow out of a jawbreaker and coated it with dark chocolate," Swizzle explained to Jubileena.

"Sure Swizzy! I love watching you do your dare-devil things!" She replied and hopped in her kart.

* * *

**(In CotC)**

Once the arcade opened, all 12 champions rolled their cars out onto pit road and waited patiently for a gamer to put their 50 cents in. "How're you feeling for tonight Jeff?" Tony asked. The two were parked next to each other and talked on the radio.

"I'm feeling pretty excited for tonight Tony. It's Rancis' first race with us and I think he'll prove to be better than we thought," Jeff replied back as he keyed his radio in. Richard's voice broke through when Jeff finished talking to Tony.

"We're all excited boys, but let's not get too excited about it and don't race him too nice. He's got to learn how to drive with guts, that's the _only_ way to make it in stock cars," Richard explained to them. The QA noise blared through the game and the drivers immediately hushed up. The gamer quickly selected Dale and Talladega Superspeedway.

_"You think you're ready to tangled with the big dogs? Let's see how good you are," _Dale gave his pre race programmed line. The track morphed into Talladega from Daytona and the cars pulled off pit road.

* * *

**(Eight Hours** **Later) **

Mr. Litwak had just locked the doors for the night and Yuni from DDR had given her "ALL CLEAR!" signal. Every game character stretched from their hard days work and went on to do their nightly routine. In Sugar Rush however, Rancis had quickly pulled the RV1 into the garage and ripped off his firesuit to put on Richard's. Vanellope had slowly pulled her kart into the garage as well, packed full of race winning trophies too. She froze and started drooling a bit at Rancis' sweaty torso as he put on his NASCAR suit. Rancis noticed her staring and chuckled.

"Like what you see Nelly?" Rancis asked and walked over and kissed her. Vanellope swore that her face had _never _felt that warm before, but she liked it. They broke apart and Vanellope silently grumbled when Rancis' firesuit covered up his biceps and abs. "I'll see you over there Nelly, the race starts in about 45 minutes okay?" Rancis said and pecked her cheek one last time before heading out to the NASCAR game. She didn't realize that she was staring at Rancis leaving until Jubileena tapped her shoulder, startling her.

"Woah! Sorry to spook you Vanellope," Jubileena apologized, "you just seemed 'out of it'," Jubileena explained. Vanellope caught her breath and looked back over to where Rancis was only a few moments ago.

"I'm fine Jubileena, I just, felt a new emotion I never felt before," Vanellope replied and sat on the door of her kart, holding her head up in her hand. Jubileena put her hand on Vanellope's shoulder.

"Is there anything I can do Vanellope?" Jubileena sweetly asked.

"No I'm fine Jubileena. But I have to go talk to Ralph for a minute, I'll see you at the race okay?" Vanellope asked. Jubileena smiled and nodded and hugged Vanellope.

"Sure thing Vanellope, see you later!" Jubileena called out as Vanellope ran out of Sugar Rush. Swizzle snuck up behind Jubileena and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hey baby," Swizzle said and kissed her ear. Vanellope _had_ to talk to someone, but definitely not Ralph. He might overreact and kill Rancis over and over again. The only one that Vanellope could trust to keep a secret was the fiercest woman in the arcade: Sgt. Calhoun. It frightened Vanellope slightly to go to Sarge's game, but this was important. Vanellope weaved through the crowd. It was a little harder than when she was smaller and could zip right through people's legs, but she managed.

"Here goes nothing," Vanellope told herself as she slowly entered Hero's Duty. Some of Calhoun's men were walking toward the exit and talking about what happened that day. One of the men recognized Vanellope from the Turbo incident and greeted her.

"Hey Vanellope is it?" Kohut asked. Vanellope stopped and turned to look at the soldier.

"Yeah, what's up?" Vanellope asked politely. Kohut lowered his gun to not scare the girl.

"What can we do for you?" Kohut asked with a reassuring smile.

"Do you know where Sarge is Kohut?" Vanellope asked while looking at Kohut's name badge on his armor. Kohut looked back behind him to the main part of the game.

"Uh I think she is in her quarters right now kid, just knock okay?" Kohut warned her. Vanellope nodded and went further into the game. Being used to the bright cheeriness of Sugar Rush, entering the dark and morbid atmosphere of Hero's Duty was unsettling. Nonetheless, Vanellope found the quarters building and searched for Calhoun's private quarters.

"Come on Sarge, I know your room is in here somewhere," Vanellope said to herself. Finally, she found a door marked 'Sgt. Calhoun'. Vanellope slowly reached out to knock, but the door opened, scaring Vanellope. She shrieked and clutched her chest.

"What's wrong Soldier, did I scare you?" Calhoun chuckled and put a comforting hand on Vanellope's shoulder.

"A-a little Sarge," Vanellope said and caught her breath.

"Well, what can I do for ya Soldier?" Calhoun asked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Uh this is weird Sarge, but a few minutes ago, I was talking with my boyfriend and then I got this _feeling_," Vanellope began to explain while Calhoun nodded and listened, "and for a short while, I just wanted to be as close as I could to him and never let him go. It really peaked when he was shirtless and he hugged and kissed me," Vanellope concluded. "What Sarge?" Vanellope asked as she saw Calhoun smirking.

"I know you just got upgraded kid," Calhoun said, "but I know the feeling you're getting. This may be a bit of a shock to you, but that _feeling_ you felt means you want to 'get Euphoric with Rancis'," Calhoun explained.

"What now?" Vanellope asked in a confused tone.

"It means you want to sleep with him Vanellope," Calhoun said with an exasperated sigh.

"We already do that Sarge, we cuddle every night," Vanellope said. Calhoun pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It means your body wants you to have _sex_ with Rancis," Calhoun further said. Vanellope's breath caught in her throat and almost freaked out.

"Are you sure Sarge?" Vanellope asked. Calhoun nodded.

"I know it sounds weird kid, but you'll learn how to deal with it. But head this warning, make sure _both _of you are ready. Don't let him force you and _don't_ force him because trust me; when you're both ready, it's a magical and euphoric feeling the first time," Calhoun explained. Vanellope soaked in the information and smiled.

"Thanks Sarge, that really helps, but at any rate I gotta go watch Rancis race in the NASCAR game tonight. I'm gonna invite Stinkbrain, but you and Uncle Felix can come too," Vanellope said. Calhoun rubbed her chin, thinking.

"Sure why not? I like seeing some rough and tough racin'," Calhoun replied. Vanellope turned and got out of Hero's Duty as fast as her long legs could carry her.

* * *

**(In CotC)**

Rancis had arrived to the game, earning grins and a happy banter from his fellow racers. "Hey Rancis, you excited buddy?" Darrell Waltrip asked and playfully slapped his hand on Rancis' back.

"I'm ready for this Darrell," Rancis said with a determined grin. Rancis looked around and saw that the track was not Atlanta, nor Talladega! "Uh, what track are we at fellows?" Rancis asked. The track was _very_ flat with almost no banking. The walls were blue instead of white and there was a crook in the back stretch.

"This track is Phoenix," Richard's voice rang out. Everyone hushed up in respect for their leader.

"Oh, well a new track should keep me on my toes," Rancis said with a smile. He slowly made his way to his blank black car with a yellow #97 on the side. He took out a silver sharpie and scribbled his signature above the door. When he was done, he turned around to find Jeff. "Hey Jeff, what's up?" Rancis asked.

"Nothing, I just wanted to wish you good luck on your first start today," Jeff said and stuck out his hand. Rancis took it and they both shook.

"And a good luck to you with Citrusella," Rancis said with a wink. Jeff let go and looked away. Suddenly, Richard's voice rang through the PA system.

"Drivers, get to you cars," he announced. All the drivers made their way to their cars. Rancis leaned into the window of his car and got his helmet off of its hook when someone bumped his back. He turned around to see Jimmie with a smug look on his face.

"Good luck today Peanut Butter. You may have done good by yourself yesterday, but let's see how you run with the big boys," Jimmie said and brushed off his Five-Time champion patch on his suit. Rancis narrowed his eyes as Jimmie walked off to his car. Rancis grimaced to himself and he started to climb into his car when his name was called out. He looked behind him and sat on the door when he saw Vanellope, Ralph, Felix, Calhoun, Swizzle, and Jubileena standing behind the wall of pit road, waving. Rancis quickly ran over to kiss his girlfriend and fist-bump Swizzle.

"Go get 'em Flugs," Vanellope said with a wink. Rancis smiled and ran back to his car. He strapped in and put on his helmet. Jeff's voice came on over the radio.

_"Gentlemen Start Your Engines_," Jeff said. The 13 cars roared to life, making Swizzle, Vanellope and Jubileena shudder. All of Rancis' friends clapped and cheered as the cars pulled off of pit road and onto the race track. Rancis was allowed to start fifth and pulled to the inside row, third car in line.

_"A Final good luck to Rancis boys. Have a good race Rancis_," Dale's voice said. Rancis smiled and his spotter's voice rang through his ears. "_Here we go, 3-2-1 GREEN GREEN GREEN!"_ Rancis floored the throttle and shifted his car into fourth gear as the group headed into turn one. Rancis was pinched down onto the apron of the track by Cale Yarborough on the outside, causing him to get loose and have to lift the throttle. Rancis had a bad exit to turn two by having to lift on the throttle which caused a bottleneck of cars going into three.

"Oh damn, come on," Rancis said to his car as he looked in the mirror to see David Pearson bumping his car, moving Rancis out of the way in turn three and four. Rancis got control of his car, but he lost sixth and settled back in ninth.

_"Coming on your inside, give him some room there bud,"_ Rancis' spotter said. Rancis looked over to see Alan Kulwicki coming fast on the inside. Rancis drove up high to let Alan go, but he broke loose and slapped the wall a bit, causing him right front damage and him losing 10th and 11th. He only had two drivers behind him, Bobby Allison and Jimmie. Going into three, Rancis tried to fend off Bobby, but his car accidently hit Bobby's. Bobby got out of the throttle and flipped Rancis the bird for hitting him.

"Sorry!" Rancis called and let Bobby go. Rancis' car broke loose under braking and it didn't help when Jimmie rammed his back bumper. Rancis' tires started squealing and he spun out. He luckily didn't hit anything, but the caution came out and he was dead last. Rancis opted to pit to fix his right front damage. It was a 50 lap race and everyone pitted to assure they could make it on gas. Rancis had the slowest pit stop to fix his damage.

"YOU CAN DO IT RANCIS!" Vanellope called out. Rancis looked over and smiled at Vanellope. The jack on his car dropped, and Rancis drove off pit road with some bear bond on his right front. Coming to the restart, Rancis would start last and he waved an apology to Bobby Allison ahead of him. The race restarted and Rancis tried to get under Cale Yarborough who was on the outside of Bobby. Unfortunately, Rancis hit the apron and shot up into Cale, getting him loose and into the wall. Rancis cringed at the sound of crunching sheet metal. The car felt better, but Rancis still had trouble controlling it.

"Come on, just a little faster," Rancis told himself. Bobby let Rancis go and settled behind him to see how his car handled. Rancis wanted to drive more aggressive and tried to move Rusty Wallace out of the way, but he got in too hot and rammed into the back of Rusty's car, shooting him into Darrell, shooting Darrell into Alan. The three wrecked on the back stretch. Rancis spun trying to miss it, but he hit the wall too. Rancis' friends cringed at the carnage Rancis caused. His car was damaged beyond repair to make the finish. Rancis climbed from the car. Rancis' body language revealed Rancis was ashamed for what he caused. The other three drivers weren't happy with him.

"I think Rancis is going to get his ass kicked," Swizzle said. Rancis ran from the three drivers to pit road. "I'M SORRY GUYS!" Rancis called out as he took his helmet off and dropped it on pit road with the three chasing him. Rancis hid behind Ralph, stopping the three drivers from pursuing.

"What is wrong with you Rancis? You don't race people like that!" Darrell yelled.

"Yeah, are you trying to kill us?" Rusty yelled too. Vanellope got in front of the champions to defend her man.

"Come on guys, it was his first race at a track he's never been to, cut him some slack," Vanellope said. The three sighed and looked around for something to say.

"Alright kid, we'll give you another shot, but you need to smooth out your edges," Darrell said and walked back to the garage area. Rancis sat on the pit wall with a depressed aura as he watched the rest of the race. Coming to the final lap, Richard led Jimmie going into turn one. Jimmie hit Richard and got up underneath him in turn two. Going through the kink in the back stretch, Jimmie let his car drift up and turned Richard around.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Rancis said as he stood up angrily. Jimmie came around to take the checkers. Richard limped his damaged car around to finish 10th. Richard wasn't too mad, but he wasn't happy either. Yet, he put that behind him to talk to Rancis.

"Well son, I could tell you had a rough first race. But you need to practice a little more and you'll get better, I'll be happy to help you," Richard said.

"That would be nice Richard, I feel horrible for wrecking Rusty, Alan, and Darrell," Rancis said sadly.

"Accidents happen Rancis, but that was today. Tomorrow is the future and remember that tomorrow, today won't matter. Now get some sleep," Richard said and left Rancis to his friends. The seven left to get back to their games.

"This is just like before I won my first Sugar Rush cup," Rancis exclaimed as he held his head.

"Don't worry Flugs, I believe in you, just like before!" Vanellope said to cheer him up and hugged him. The four Sugar Rushers left the Fix-It Gang and headed back for home.

"At least you didn't give up Rancis," Swizzle said.

"That only gets you so far Swizz," Rancis said, "I have got to get better and fast," Rancis replied. Once the four got to the castle, Swizzle and Jubileena said their good-byes and headed for Swizzle's house. Rancis and Vanellope got to the castle and laid down in bed next to each other. Vanellope could feel Rancis' depression and tried to cheer him up.

"Flugs, don't feel bad. it was only your first race. You can get better. I'm sure Richard has a few tricks up his sleeve to help you," Vanellope said.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better Nelly, but I'm more saddened about wrecking Darrell, Rusty and Alan. That sucks for them because I wrecked them," Rancis said. Vanellope sat up and kissed Rancis.

"Listen to me Rancis, shit happens in racing, you know that. You can't let one little incident get to you okay? You have to take small steps to get better, I'm sure they've forgiven you already," Vanellope said sternly. Rancis reeled in from the kiss and replied, "You're right Nelly, everything'll be fine. I'll talk to Richard about some test sessions tomorrow," Rancis said. They were about to kiss again when an explosion broke the silence of the room.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Vanellope yelled.

**(With Swizz and Jubileena)**

"Wow Swizzle, you made _exploding_ arrowheads?" Jubileena asked.

"Yep, out of some cherry bombs. The fuse lights when I let go of the string and they explode after about five seconds," Swizzle grinned.

"And they look like your kart too, nice!" Jubileena complimented. "You're _so_ good with your hands Swizzy!" She said and kissed him. Swizzle dropped his bow and returned the kiss and lightly squeezed her rear, causing her to squeal in delight. "In more ways than one," she added.

Back in Challenge of the Champions, Jimmie ignored the anger of Richard's fellow champions and made his way to another track of the game in a dark corner. "I wrecked the leader like you said partner. They were mad, but the more I win, the more they'll respect me right?" Jimmie said.

"Oh of course partner, now did you bring what I asked you?" The mystery figure asked. Jimmie pulled out a glowing green power cell and a code box.

"Yeah I swiped the power cell from the pistol of that Military Woman and the hack box, but what are these for?" Jimmie asked.

"I can build you a weapon to strike fear into your game," the person said.

"Whatever makes me the leader, I'll take it," Jimmie said.

**END CHAPTER 9!**

* * *

_So, Rancis didn't have a very good start did he? But no one can become a Richard Petty overnight. I don't have much to say __except keep Tony Stewart in your thoughts and prayers. He broke his leg last week and can't compete for some time. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and be ready for chapter 10. 100 review goal, it's getting CLOSER!_


	10. Earn Your Stripes

**Chapter 10: Earn Your Stripes**

_Dark Demon 122: Of course I win this round. I can't be beat! I also have Captain America ready to defend me. YOUR MOVE! :p_

_Dixie Darlin: Nelly's a teenager, she has to know about urges. And I'm sure if she told Ralph instead of Calhoun, he'd rip off something important to Rancis._

_ANOTHER Disclaimer? You people really don't know who you're messing with. FINE: I do not own Wreck-It Ralph, NASCAR, or Pop-Tarts as mentioned in this story._

* * *

Rancis groggily woke up from his slumber. The excitement that he felt the previous two mornings had burned off like an old candle. Not only was the peanut butter cup boy depressed at how much of fool he made himself look, he was also depressed for wrecking his fellow competitors. Rancis sat on the edge of Vanellope's bed, head in his hands as he thought long and hard as to what to do. He didn't notice Vanellope get up and crawl over to him. She laid her head on his shoulder and massaged his back lovingly.

"Are you okay Flugs? Do you want to talk about it?" Vanellope offered and lightly kissed his ear. Rancis jolted slightly at being touched. He loved being close to his Nelly, especially when they were both still warm from cuddling under the blanket.

"No, it's alright Vanellope, I'm just thinking about how I can improve from that disaster last night," Rancis replied. He sighed sadly and brushed his hand through his hair, alerting Vanellope just how depressed he was.

"Aw Flugs, please don't be sad," Vanellope cooed and lightly kissed his neck, "with practice I'm sure you can improve, but I still think you're one of the best," she continued and hugged his naked torso. Rancis looked back at his girlfriend with a smile on his face.

"Thanks Nelly, you know how to make me feel better," Rancis said and got up. Vanellope also rose from the bed, revealing her bra and pantie nightwear, which made Rancis freeze. Vanellope noticed and teased Rancis mercilessly.

"You're not the only one who can make people stare at their bodies Flugs," Vanellope said in a teasing tone and went into the bathroom to shower. Rancis breathed in deeply and wiped the sweat from his brow to calm down. The previous night, before everyone went to bed, there was a rumor going around the arcade that Mr. Litwak had come down with the flu and wouldn't open the arcade again for awhile.

"Nelly, do you think Mr. Litwak is really sick?" Rancis called through the door.

"I think so Rancis, Pac-Man and Sonic would _never _kid about him being sick," Vanellope called back through the door. Rancis heard the shower knobs switch off and the water cease running.

"Well, Mr. Litwak usually comes in about half-an hour early to get everything set up before 9:00 and its 8:45 already," Rancis called back. Vanellope stepped out of the bathroom in her usual mint green tank top, brown shorts and black combat boots. Rancis walked over to her and held her shoulders while kissing her on the lips. "Do I ever tell you how beautiful you are Nelly?" Rancis asked softly.

"Uh, only every day Flugs," Vanellope teased and playfully shoved him out of the way. "Race ya to the kitchen slowpoke!" Vanellope called out and ran out of the room.

"Aw come on, no fair!" Rancis chuckled as he ran as fast as he could. The two ran down the spiral staircase, kicking Sour Bill out of the way, who gave out a Wilhelm scream as he flew off the side of the stairs. Coming to the last hallway leading to the kitchen, Rancis used the marble flooring to his advantage and slid on his side to gain momentum and beat Vanellope.

"Nice one Rancis," Vanellope congratulated Rancis as they caught their breath and took big swigs of chocolate milk. The two eventually caught their breath and sat down at the table, drinking chocolate milk and eating Strawberry Pop-Tarts with no frosting. Vanellope swallowed her toaster pastry with a swig of chocolate milk and asked, "So, what are your plans for today Rancis?" The peanut butter cup boy looked up from his Arcade Newspaper and thought.

"Well, I was going to go back to Challenge of the Champions and get some lessons from Richard and hopefully not piss anyone off anymore," Rancis explained and flipped through the newspaper, "Oh, looks like the Surge Protector refuses to talk to the characters from Challenge of the Champions, I wonder what happened there. But, what are you going to do today babe?" Rancis rambled on. Vanellope looked up from the toaster.

"I'm going to hang out with Ralph today, we haven't had an 'us' day in awhile," Vanellope replied. Rancis nodded and put the newspaper down.

"Well, have fun with that Vanellope," he said and kissed her cheek, "I'll see you later!" He called out and left the castle. Vanellope smiled at the tingling sensation on her cheek. But, she was also concerned. She didn't want Rancis to quit racing altogether if things didn't work out in NASCAR, and she _certainly _didn't want her nightmare to come true.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he's got Richard freakin' Petty teaching him," Vanellope told herself and put the milk away in the fridge. She then put her licorice hair tie in to put her hair in a ponytail and left the castle. Sour Bill had gotten up from the floor and shook his head from the fall he took.

"Damn teenagers," he muttered to himself and grabbed a bottle of Xtra Strength Root Beer.

* * *

**(With Rancis)**

Rancis had started making his way to Challenge of the Champions in the RV1 when he spotted Swizzle and Jubileena just strolling along the road. Rancis shifted the RV1 down to first gear and stopped right beside the couple. "Hey guys, what's up today?" Rancis asked with a smile.

"Not much Rancis, just takin' a walk with my Sweet Cherry Pie here," Swizzle said and wrapped his arm around Jubileena's torso and pulled her in closer, causing her to giggle up a storm.

"Well, I'm heading over to the NASCAR game to get some help from Richard to make last night never happen _again_," Rancis said as he stared off into space, thinking about the previous night.

"Aw come on Rancis, it wasn't _that _bad," Jubileena said, attempting to cheer up Rancis, who gave her a weird look that said, '_You did watch the same race right?'_

"Jubileena, I wrecked my car and three others whose drivers chased me to the garage area with _pipe wrenches _and jack handles," Rancis admitted in a point out the obvious tone.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad Rancis," Swizzle said, "but you have 12 champions to help you, and 11 of them aren't total narcissistic a-holes who try to rape your girlfriend," Swizzle added on a joke.

"Ugh, don't remind me about him, he even wrecked Richard for the win last night, but Richard brushed it off rather quickly," Rancis replied, "anyway, you two are more than welcome to watch tonight if you want, cheerio!" Rancis called as he started up his kart and drove off.

"Do you think he'll really improve Swizzy?" Jubileena asked as she leaned on Swizzle.

"Well, he didn't quit trying to get Vanellope to be his girlfriend, so I think he'll improve somewhat, but that might take awhile. But at any rate, let's go get some breakfast babe," Swizzle said and took his girlfriend's arm and led her to the game's breakfast bar.

"By the way, did Rancis just say _cheerio?_" Jubileena questioned. Swizzle thought about it to try to remember if Rancis had or not.

"Yeah, I think he did, that's weird," Swizzle replied, "he's never said that before." Swizzle finished.

* * *

**(Back to Vanellope)**

Vanellope had stopped off at Citrusella's house to get the scoop on her and Jeff, but Citrusella wouldn't say anything but how much of a sweetheart Jeff was. After Vanellope had left her house, she made her way to the exit of the game and on the way, said hi to Swizzle and Jubileena. "Hey Vanellope, you want to join us for breakfast?" Jubileena offered. Vanellope politely shook her head.

"No thanks guys, I stuffed myself on chocolate milk and Pop-Tarts earlier; now I'm on my way to visit Ralph!" She cheerily said. Swizzle and Jubileena nodded and told Vanellope about Rancis' offer.

"We're probably going to watch Rancis race again later on today, so will you save us a seat?" Jubileena asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I for my two best friends?" Vanellope exclaimed. She then remembered her nightmare that for _some_ reason kept on bugging her, so she decided to tell Swizzle and Jubileena. "Um guys, the other night I had a dream and it was a bad one," she admitted.

"What was it about Vanellope? Was it about that Johnson asshole?" Swizzle asked. Vanellope shook her head and looked worriedly around in case Rancis was still in the game. She didn't want to let Rancis know about it and crush himself mentally.

"No, I had a dream that Rancis died in a crash and it seemed so real," Vanellope yelled. She sat down on a giant gumdrop and rubbed her temples with her hands. "Should I tell Rancis? I don't want to make him worry about it in case it's just a silly dream," Vanellope muttered. Swizzle motioned to Jubileena since he was bad at comforting other girls besides Jubileena.

"Listen hun, I think you should when _you_ feel it's the right time because some dreams are premonitions; you could end up saving his life," Jubileena explained while hugging Vanellope. The President thought about it and decided that her Cherry friend was right.

"Alright Jubileena, I'll tell him, but not now; I don't want to crush him any further than how he was crushed last night," Vanellope replied and got up from her seat and dusted herself off. She parted ways with Swizz and Jubileena and headed for Fix-It Felix Jr to see her best friend in the world. She weaved through what seemed to be the endless sea of game characters inside GCS who were both glad to have a few days off and worried for their owner. Trying to weave through the crowd in a bigger body was still more difficult than she imagined. Vanellope lost count of how many times she said 'sorry!' and 'my bad!' She eventually knocked someone over by accident. "Oh Gosh I'm so sorry- hey Uncle Felix," Vanellope nervously said as she helped the little fixer to his feet.

"Oh that's fine Vanellope, how are you doing on this glorious and stressful day off?" He cheerily exclaimed.

"Oh I'm fine Uncle Felix, I'm just heading to see Ralph is all," Vanellope replied with a chuckle. Felix rubbed his chin with his gloved hand, thinking about where Ralph was.

"Well, he's not home, I just left there, he might be in Pac-Man having a last minute Bad-Anon meeting," Felix offered her a clue. Vanellope smiled and hugged the fixer.

"Thanks Uncle Felix, I'll see you later, say hi to Aunt Tammy for me!" Vanellope exclaimed and once again tried to weave through the ocean of game characters. Vanellope stood, looking up at the Pac-Man gate and walked through the tunnel to get to the tram. After the short train ride, she arrived at the station and exited her tram. The door to the meeting room was closed so she knocked softly and waited for either Ralph or one of the Bad-Anon characters to answer. The door opened slowly and the Zombie from House of Dead answered.

"Grr, Ralph, your daughter, at door!" The zombie declared while waving his hatchets around. Ralph stood up and politely pushed Zombie out of the way.

"She's not my daughter guys, but what's up kid?" Ralph asked with a smile.

"Nothing much Ralph, I just wanted to hang out with you today!" Vanellope exclaimed while hugging Ralph. Ralph chuckled and hugged her back.

"Well, you can hang with me during the meeting, then afterwards we can have lunch at Tappers!" Ralph replied and sat down on his chair. Vanellope smiled and sat down on the floor next to Ralph.

"Sounds like fun Ralph!" She exclaimed and let Clyde resume his speech.

* * *

**(Back with our favorite Peanut Butter boy)**

Rancis parked the RV1 inside the gate at the train station in CotC. He gulped nervously as he rode the train down the tracks. "I hope they're still not pissed about last night," Rancis said to himself and took in a deep breath. He imagined Darrell and Rusty rushing him and beating him up for his pathetic racing the previous night, and frankly, he wouldn't blame them. He let out a little yelp when the train came to a screeching halt and flung him onto the floor. The door opened and Rancis stepped out to a track he hadn't seen before.

"Well, look who is back," Tony said with a chuckle, scaring Rancis. The boy clutched his heart and gathered it up.

"Yeah hi Tony," Rancis replied, "do you know where Richard is by any chance?" Rancis asked while looking around.

"Yeah, he's over in the hauler area, he's expecting you too," Tony said and entered the train. Rancis wondered where he was going and brushed it off to find Richard. This track was strange to Rancis. It wasn't anything like Atlanta, Talladega or Phoenix; it was like Sugar Rush Speedway to be honest. The track had a coliseum type architecture. There were grandstands surrounding the whole track. The racing surface itself was white instead of a dark gray and the track itself was small. Walking through the garage area, Rancis nervously said hi to his new friends, and he was relieved when Darrell and Rusty didn't try to kill him again.

"Richard's still over in his hauler," Jeff said to Rancis. Jeff was currently under the hood of his Rainbow Warriors stock car with a wrench in hand.

"Thank you Jeff," Rancis replied and bumped into Jimmie on the way over. "Oh it's you," Rancis muttered.

"What was that about?" Jimmie asked with the worst innocent act Rancis ever heard.

"Look Johnson, I don't like you and I don't trust you. You're greedy, selfish and you wrecked Richard last night, and that's not the worst of it," Rancis angrily said. Jimmie cocked an eyebrow at the last statement.

"What is the worst of it kid?" Jimmie demanded.

"You tried to get fresh with my girlfriend," Rancis replied and got in Jimmie's face. "I'm fine with you making fun of me, but if you even try to talk to my girlfriend again and she complains about it again, I will kick your ass into the next century with my indestructible shield," Rancis threatened.

"What shield?" Jimmie asked curiously. Rancis groaned and explained.

"When my game was first plugged in, I had an indestructible circular shield that I used to block my kart from incoming projectiles. King Candy made me take it away because he claimed it was cheating. It's been gathering dust in my closet for 15 years and I'm not afraid to use it on your pathetic ass," Rancis threatened again and walked off to find Richard. Once he found Richard's hauler, Rancis knocked softly.

"Yes?" The King asked as he answered the door, "Oh hey Rancis, what can I do for you?" Richard asked kindly.

"Well Richard, I was wondering if you could give me some instructions today if you're not busy, you know on different tracks like this one?" Rancis asked. Richard flashed his grin and chuckled.

"Of course Rancis, we got your car all fixed up from Phoenix, just hop in and we'll go driving. But this time, I'll be on top of your pit box, coaching you on your driving, okay?" Richard said to make sure Rancis understood.

"That sounds great Richard, I'm ready for it!" Rancis exclaimed and walked with Richard back to the garage area. The 10 others were working on their cars and talking to each other when Richard and Rancis entered.

"Hey guys listen up!" Richard declared, "get your cars ready, we're racing Bristol in a few!" Richard continued. The drivers closed the hoods on their cars and climbed in them to drive to pit road. Rancis made his way to his bleak and blank car and climbed in. He made his way to pit road and sat in the last position. Rancis put on his helmet and visor and got ready for Jeff's command. The engines fired soon after and Richard's voice came on over the radio. '_Okay Rancis, this is a 100 lap race, just try to keep the fenders on and log in laps to get a feel for it. Now for Bristol, the top lane is the preferred line.'_ Richard instructed. Rancis took it all in and prepared to race. Coming out of turn four, the flag man dropped the green flag and the race commenced.

"Let's get it on," Rancis told himself and shifted quickly from second gear, to third, to fourth. Going into turn one, Rancis hit it pretty well, he let the car go from the bottom to the top groove and got a good launch on the high side of Cale Yarborough.

'_Okay good job Rancis, now don't over drive it in three!' _Richard barked through the radio. Rancis got it and got around Cale with just a slight scrape to the wall, but nothing serious. '_Nice pass Rancis, just be patient and pick them off one by one.'_ Richard keyed in. About forty laps later, Rancis had moved from 11th to 6th by doing what Richard said, but his car's handling had gone down the toilet.

"Richard, why is my car sliding around so much? I can't control it!" Rancis said as he slid around turn four and lost sixth spot.

_'YOUR GOING TOO HIGH STAY IN THE GROOVE!' _Richard shouted. Rancis' car slid up into the wall and bounced off it. His car slid down into Bill Elliot's, spinning them both into the inside wall and ending their race.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Rancis shouted and threw his gloves down as his car was reset back to the garage along with Bill. "Sorry about that Bill," Rancis apologized.

"Don't worry Rancis, it was your first time here, and you tried to save it," Bill said with a smile and patted his back. Richard entered the garage with his headset around his neck.

"You did okay out there Rancis, but you gotta keep control of your car. If you want to finish first, you must first finish," Richard said.

"Well, I'm not ready to give up Richard, where are we going next?" Rancis asked. Richard flipped through his notebook and stabbed it with his finger.

"Looks like we'll be hitting Las Vegas next, hope Lady Luck's on your side," Richard chuckled. Rancis sat on top of his pit box and watched the rest of the Bristol Race which Rusty ended up winning. Richard had fixed Rancis' car and the track morphed into Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "Get out there," Richard told Rancis. Rancis climbed back in his car and studied the HUD on his car's dash board. The track was almost like Atlanta, but it had a tri-oval and not a quad-oval. About this time, Swizzle, Jubileena, Vanellope and Tony came back. Tony rapidly got in his #14 car and drove off pit road with the pack.

'_Hey Flugs!' _Vanellope called in through the radio. Rancis smiled and felt better that his girlfriend was there.

"Hello Nelly, I'm glad your here," Rancis replied, "I have Richard coaching me today on racing, so let's see what damage I canNOT cause," Rancis chuckled. The cars rolled off pit road and onto the track. The flagman dropped the green flag, and Rancis mashed on the gas pedal. Tony spun his tires on the inside and Rancis dropped in front of him. Since it was like Atlanta, Rancis actually moved through the field after 10 laps up to 7th! However, after lap 20 of 60, Rancis' car again started to lose its handling.

_'Rancis, you need to cool down, you're over driving the corners!'_ Richard radioed to Rancis. He didn't know that he was over driving the corners, but it was gaining him spots so Rancis kept doing it. He entered turn one under neath Bobby Allison and his car broke loose under him and shot his car up into Bobby's, spinning them both out into the outside wall. The caution was out and Rancis and Bobby's cars were tansported back to the garage. This time, Richard wasn't too happy. "Dammit Rancis! When I tell you you're over driving the corners, that means to stop going in so hard and just take it easy until the pit stop!" Richard raised his voice.

"Okay, I got it Richard, now let's try this again, I'm not giving up that easily!" Rancis declared and helped fix his car.

**(MONTAGE TIME!)**

"Okay, we're gonna try Dover now Rancis," Richard said. About ten minutes later, Rancis pulled into the garage again with a beat to hell race car. Vanellope, Swizzle, and Jubileena's faces scrunched when Richard threw his notebook across the garage area. "Well, at least he's lasting a decent amount of time," Swizzle said.

_A wild ride, over stony ground_  
_Such a lust for life, the circus comes to town_  
_We are the hungry ones, on a lightning raid_  
_Just like a river runs, like a fire needs flame_  
_I burn for you_

"Okay, we'll try Pocono!" Richard exclaimed. Rancis lasted only one turn when he clipped the grass and spun into Jeff. Richard ripped his notebook in half and Vanellope face-palmed.

_I gotta feel it in my blood whoa oh_  
_I need your touch don't need your love whoa oh_

_And I want and I need_  
_And I lust animal_  
_And I want and I need_  
_And I lust animal_

"Indy!" Richard shouted. Again, Rancis pulled into the garage with a wrecked race car. "This can't possibly get any worse," Jubileena said.

_Cry wolf, given mouth to mouth_  
_Like a movin' heartbeat in the witching hour_  
_I'm runnin' with the wind, a shadow in the dust_  
_And like the drivin' rain, yeah, like the restless rust_  
_I never sleep_

"Texas!" Richard said in an annoyed tone. Rancis wrecked his car under the warm up lap when he accidentally pulled the steering wheel out of the dashboard and the car careened into the wall and bounced into Jimmie Johnson. "I stand corrected

_Huh!_  
_Ah!_  
_Cry wolf, baby cry tough_  
_Gonna hunt you like an, an, an, an, an, animal_  
_Gonna take your love 'n' run_

"Chicagoland, Richmond, Kentucky, Kansas, Auto Club, Homestead, Martinsville, Darlington, New Hampshire, Charlotte, Michigan!" Richard declared again and again the remaining non-road course or non-plate tracks. And as you guessed, they all ended the same.

_And I want and I need_  
_And I lust animal_  
_Take me, tame me_  
_Make me your animal_  
_Show me stroke me_  
_Let me be your animal_  
_I want, ooh yeah, animal_

As Richard threw his headset on the ground for the umpteenth time, Rancis, Vanellope, Swizzle and Jubileena sat on the pit wall of Michgan all with their fists holding their heads up. Rancis' firesuit had a few burn marks on it and his face was smudged with dirt.

"You know what the best part about this is?" Swizzle said. The others looked over to him.

"I still have Nelly as my girlfriend?" Rancis said sadly.

"No, you got all the wrecking out of the way and plus you don't have to pay for the damages," Swizzle said.

"And I don't think Richard can get any more pissed," Vanellope said as Richard threw his cowboy hat into his car.

"Well, I'm going for a drink if you guys want to come along," Rancis offered as he hopped off the pit wall. Vanellope followed him.

"Sorry Rancis, but Jubee and I want to hang out alone again," Swizzle apologized and took the first train back to GCS. As Rancis and Vanellope waited for the second train, Rancis sat on the bench and sighed sadly.

"God, I am a pathetic racer," he said to himself. Vanellope hugged him to cheer him up.

"I still love you Flugs," she said sweetly and kissed his lips.

"Thanks Nelly, but I still want to work at this, but for now, I'll buy you a drink," he said as they entered the train. Back with Richard, who gathered up his things and cooled down, was talking with David Pearson.

"Look Richard, for now, I think he needs _you_ to take him to the toughest track and have him test there because I think he doesn't know what 'loose' and 'tight' means. He's never had to adjust his cars before now and that might be screwing with him," David explained. Richard sighed and put his cowboy hat on.

"Maybe you're right David, but I really need a drink at the bar, I'll see you guys later," Richard said as he left his friends. David studied Richard as he left and didn't expect someone to be standing behind him.

"How's Richard doing Dave?" Dale asked.

"Ah! Oh hi Dale," David said, "he's stressed out trying to teach Rancis how to drive. Richard's putting too much pressure on himself and Rancis. Basically what I told him to do is take Rancis to the toughest track and teach him one on one how to control his car and to conserve tires, otherwise, he'll never make it here," David explained as Dale leaned on the cinderblock wall of the garage.

"So you think Rancis can still do this?" Dale asked.

"Of course Dale, he did last a lot longer at every race than he did at Phoenix last night," David replied. The two looked over at Rancis' car and shuddered at the thought of Rancis racing at Talladega or Daytona.

"Well, at least he's definitely earned his stripes today. Racing doesn't come easy in a new league," Dale said. "He's on his way," Dale concluded and walked out of the garage area. David clicked his tongue, thinking. He then walked out of his garage stall to look at Rancis' car. He then looked up in realization.

**END CHAPTER 10!**

* * *

_That was a fun chapter to write! Yeah, torturing Rancis is kinda hard for me, but that's how the story works. Next chapter, will Rancis FINALLY get a __handle on a stock car, what did David find out? What does Rancis's shield mean? Tune in next time to Chapter 11! And please review since I am updating WAY more frequently than ever._


	11. Something new, Something Old

**Chapter 11: Something new, and something old**

_Miss Rune: That's nice compliment, thank you! I love me some action stories/movies._

_herethereeverywhere: I'm glad you're learning something, although that was never my original intent because I never thought people would actually learn racing information from me, it has been a great side effect_

_Dixe Darlin: To be honest, I've never seen Richard pissed off in real life, so I have NO idea what it's like_

* * *

Rancis and Vanellope were sitting at Tapper's bar, quietly thinking and sipping their root beer. "I know you feel bad Flugs, but cheer up, you still have a great Sugar Rush career and you're still cute," Vanellope said with a smile. Rancis tried to smile, but his face wouldn't allow it.

"Thanks Nelly, but I need a prayer book if I want to be better," Rancis said and adjusted his peanut butter cup hat. Suddenly, a drunken Bowser walked by the couple and stopped in front of Rancis.

"Mmmm, giant peanut butter cup," he said drunkly and took Rancis' hat off and ate it. Vanellope was mad at the dragon turtle hybrid.

"HEY! That was my boyfriends' hat you jerk!" Vanellope shouted at Bowser. The King of the Koopas glared at her.

"Oh yeah little girl, what are you gonna do about it?" Bowser demanded. It was then that Mario and Luigi jumped on top of Bowser, knocking him out cold.

"Sorry about a dat Vanellope and Rancis," Luigi exclaimed. He grabbed Bowser's hands and started dragging him from the game.

"He-a can get-a little bitchy when he a-drinks," Mario exclaimed as they drug Bowser away. Rancis stared depressed at his reflection in the mirror on the wall and felt around his head where his beloved hat used to sit.

"Coulda done without that," he said sadly and sipped on his root beer some more. Vanellope frowned and laid her head on his shoulder, getting used to cheering him up. "This sucks Nelly, not complaining about racing in general, but I'm just upset that I keep wrecking not only myself, but the people around me; it makes me feel like an ass," Rancis explained.

"I know Rancis, but you have to accept that that is what is going on now and with practice and patience, you can get better," Vanellope replied. At that point, Richard entered the bar and his eyes lit up as he saw Rancis and Vanellope. The King approached them, but they saw his reflection in the mirror.

"If you're here to kill me for wrecking every race and ruining your firesuit, I might not stop you," Rancis said. Richard sat down and patted Rancis' back with a smile.

"Naw Rancis, I've had time to cool down, it was just stressful seeing someone who has that much talent wreck just about every race," Richard replied and ordered a root beer.

"You still think I have talent after that pathetic performance?" Rancis asked in a dumbfounded manner.

"Well of course Rancis, I still wouldn't let you race if I didn't think you had talent," Richard replied and gulped down some of his root beer. Rancis sighed and looked over at Richard with a cocked eyebrow.

"To be honest Richard, I don't think I would wreck a lot if the car handled properly," Rancis said, hoping to not either insult or piss off Richard. The King luckily just set his glass down and gave a quiet belch.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Richard replied and wiped his mouth, "just tell me how and we can go from there," Richard continued. Rancis looked back to his girlfriend and back to Richard with a confused look on his face. He had NO idea how to set up a car. Sure, he worked on his kart in Sugar Rush, but that was just working on changing oil and trying to work on speed.

"I don't know how to do that Richard," Rancis just flat-out admitted. Richard furrowed his eyebrows curiously.

"What do you mean Rancis? You tell me how to set it up and I'll take some wedge out and put some trackbar in, maybe put in a spring-rubber, you'll win some races and that's all that there is to it," Richard explained. Rancis ran his hand through his hair and all over his face.

"Richard I can't do that," Rancis explained.

"Well, why not Rancis?" Richard asked curiously.

"Because I have no idea what the hell you're talking about Richard," Rancis replied, cracking some peanuts in his hand, "wedge, trackbar, spring-rubber, I don't know what the hell those are," Rancis continued and buried his face in his hands. Vanellope sighed and got up. "Nelly, is everything okay?" Rancis asked worriedly.

"Yeah Flugs, it's just that this is between you and Richard, I'm going back to Sugar Rush, and I'll see you then hun," Vanellope replied and kissed his nose. Rancis lightly smiled and turned back to Richard.

"Okay son, you won't make it anywhere in NASCAR if you don't know how to work on the cars," Richard said. Rancis slammed his mug on the bar top, alerting Tapper that Rancis wanted a refill.

"Then _please_ tell me how to adjust the car," Rancis begged. Richard clicked his tongue and sat up and pulled out his wallet.

"Okay, you go home and rest for a little bit, then later tonight you can come back and I'll give you the whole run down on adjustments," Richard explained and set a $10 bill on the counter. "And by the way, it's okay about the firesuit, accidents happen," Richard said with a grin. Rancis laid his head back and stared at the ceiling. He then paid his bill and walked out, feeling slightly naked without his hat. He arrived in Sugar Rush about five minutes later. Knowing that a spare hat would only be at his old house, Rancis made his way back.

"When was the last time I was in my old house?" Rancis asked himself. The neighborhood was familiar, yet seemed alien to him. He saw Gloyd tending to his pumpkin patch and waved.

"Hey Rancis, what happened to your hat?" Gloyd asked when he saw Rancis walk by.

"I don't want to talk about it," Rancis replied, "I'm just getting a new one from my house, and a new firesuit," he continued. Gloyd exited his pumpkin patch and walked with Rancis.

"Oh, well I'll go with ya then how 'bout?" Gloyd offered. Rancis shrugged an 'okay' and the two took the path to Rancis' old house. "Man, when was the last time you were even here Rancis?" Gloyd asked half joking and half being serious.

"I can't remember Gloyd," Rancis said as they approached Rancis' house. Rancis pulled a key from under his welcome mat and unlocked the door. The familiarity soon entranced Rancis and he smiled at the memories his house held. He flipped on the light switch and smiled.

"So, which way is your room?" Gloyd asked. Rancis led him down the hallway to the door at the very end. They opened the door slowly and came upon a neat and tidy brown room with an immaculately made bed.

"Ah, here we go," Rancis said as he took a spare hat off his hat rack. Gloyd still looked puzzled as Rancis put it on and looked in the mirror to see if it was on straight.

"So really, what happened to your other hat Rancis?" Gloyd pushed on. The Peanut Butter cup boy sighed and turned back to Gloyd with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Nelly knows too, but while we were getting a pint down at Tappers, Bowser was drunk off his rocker and ate it," Rancis admitted. Gloyd busted out laughing and fell on the floor, clutching his side. "Yeah, laugh it up Orangeboar," Rancis said.

"I was wondering when someone was going to eat that!" Gloyd said in between breaths. Rancis let Gloyd laugh it out and eventually, he sat up and caught his breath.

"Okay, we're almost done here," Rancis said, "we just gotta look for a new firesuit," he finished and opened up his closet. "WOAH!" Rancis said as the doors opened.

"THAT IS FREAKING AWESOME!" Gloyd said as they stared into the closet. Before them was a new firesuit. But it wasn't like anything they had seen before. The suit was bright orange like a jump suit with gloves attached to the sleeves. The boots were brown and the torso from the bottom of the ribs down to the waist had yellow and brown vetical strpes. The suit even had a head piece with flames going down the sides. And the icing on the cake was the "RS" on the chest.

"This is the greatest suit I have ever seen!" Ranics said as he put it on.

"Now that, makes you look awesome Rancis," Gloyd said and took a picture with his phone, "put a helmet on over the head piece and you're ready to go!" He concluded. Rancis then put the head part on which only came down past his nose.

"YES!" Was all Rancis could say. Loving his new suit, Rancis looked around the closet for anything else and stumbled upon something he hadn't seen in 15 years. He picked it up from a corner and blew all the Sugar Dust off.

"What is that Rancis?" Gloyd asked curiously. It was a giant Reese's Cup, like Rancis' hat, but bigger. It also had an arm strap on the back and had a yellow ring around the outside, an orange ring below that, another yellow ring below that, and a brown circle in the middle with an "SR" for Sugar Rush on the brown circle.

"This Gloyd, is my shield," Rancis replied. "When that asshole took over our game 15 years ago, he forced me to get rid of it because he claimed it was cheating, and I remembered it all these years, even when the game reset," Rancis explained and put the shield on his back. "Come on, I have to show Nelly and go talk to Richard," Rancis said and the two left.

* * *

**(Back in CotC)**

Richard had returned to his game and was greeted with David Pearson waiting next to his car. "Hey Richard, I have something to show you!" David exclaimed and brought Richard over to Rancis' fixed car.

"Okay David, what's up?" Richard asked curiously.

"Well, I was searching his car and took a look at the tachometer here," David explained and pointed to the dashboard. "I found out that he is letting the RPMs get too high when he shifts, so that my be why his car doesn't get as much power as the rest of us," David said.

"Good work David, never would have thought to look for that," Richard said with a smile. Richard looked through the car more when Dale and Jeff approached. Richard pulled his head from the car to turn to them.

"Is Rancis going to be coming back Richard?" Dale asked.

"Yep, tonight, I'm going to give him a private lesson on how to adjust the handling of his car with his crew chief and how to adapt to an ill handling car," Richard explained.

"That's good," Jeff replied and wiped sweat from his brow, "I was going to take him to Sonoma and Watkins Glen to see how good he is on the road courses," Jeff instructed the two.

"And I'm gonna take him to 'Dega and Daytona to teach him the way of the draft," Dale said.

"Well, as soon as he gets here, we can do that," Richard told the two.

* * *

**(Back in Sugar Rush)**

"Oh my Mod, you look HOT Rancis!" Vanellope said when he showed her his new suit. "It fits your muscles and your butt _so_ well," she complimented and felt around his body, lingering around his rear for a moment.

"I thought you would like it babe," he replied and kissed her.

"And that mask thingy makes you look mysterious," she said and then frowned. "You're not gonna kill someone while wearing that are you?" She asked nervously.

"N-no," Rancis replied, not knowing what she meant.

"I'm just teasing ya big worry wart, but what's with the shield thing?" She asked curiously.

"It's to block like cherry bombs and sweet seekers from you guys," Rancis explained, "I just pop this baby on the back of my kart at the beginning of a race, and nothing with break it," he finished.

"Hmm, I wonder if it can be used for anything else," Vanellope wondered. "Ooh!" Take a look at this Rancis!" She exclaimed loudly. Vanellope ran over to her kart which for some reason, was covered in a tarp and had wrenches and welders and computers around it. "Watch this," she said and hopped in her kart and pushed a button. Rancis stared in awe at what was happening before him and he dropped his shield.

"Ho-ly shit," he said to himself.

**End Chapter 11!**

* * *

_Okay I apologize for the shortness, but I want to save the racing action for the next few chapters. But I hope you liked it, Rancis learns that he still has more to learn about racing, and he gets a new suit! And what do you think happened to Vanellope's kart? And I promise that Chapter 12 will have Rancis re-learning how to race, then oh boy, the REAL racing action will commence. Please review if you read this chapter. _


	12. Loose is FAST

**Chapter 12: Loose is FAST**

_Guest: Really? I really thought that would've been written before. But I'm glad I was the first :)_

_Dark Demon 122: Yeah, its something BIG alright. It's revealed in this chapter!_

_Dixie Darlin: Eh, I thought this was the best opportunity for Mario and Luigi to make a cameo. LOL :p_

* * *

Rancis' shield dropped and clanged onto the ground before him. He stared in awe at the sight in front of him. Vanellope's kart morphed into a super suit around her. The exhaust pipes moved to her feet and spewed out fire and sparks as she floated above the ground. The red tinted windshield was protecting her face. "What do you think of my new super suit Flugs? I thought'd it would be a fun hobby," Vanellope said as she picked up Rancis and flew him around the room.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Rancis shouted as Vanellope put him down. She smiled and lowered the face shield on her suit.

"I know, I was super bored when you chatted with Richard earlier, so I decided to modify my kart with the new upgrade," Vanellope replied. "I used the sweet seekers as missiles on the wrists and the cherry bombs launch from my hands, and the ice cream mortars fire from a launch tube on my back," Vanellope explained. Then Rancis got an idea as he thought about Vanellope's suit.

"Hmm, try to shoot me with a sweet seeker and cherry bomb simultaneously babe," he said smugly. Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her wrists and back to Rancis who now held his shield.

"Are you sure Flugs? I mean, I don't want to hurt you," Vanellope said, unsure of what his motives were. Rancis chuckled and held the shield in front of his face.

"Don't worry, I just want to test how tough this thing is, and plus if something goes wrong, I'll regenerate," Rancis assured her and pointed the shield. Vanellope shrugged and locked a cherry bomb and sweet seeker onto Rancis' position.

"3, 2, 1," Vanellope counted down and fired. The projectiles swarmed Rancis and contacted with his shield, exploding on impact. When the smoke cleared, Rancis was standing, perfectly fine and smiling. His shield had no dents nor scratches on it.

"HAHA!" He shouted victoriously, "this thing is indestructible," he bragged and spun it on his finger.

"Anyway hun, don't you have somewhere to be?" Vanellope asked.

"Oh SHIT! My lesson!" Rancis exclaimed and ran out to his kart. Vanellope smiled and picked up his shield which Ranics dropped.

"He's pretty good with this thing," she said to herself and flew up to her bedroom and set the shield down on her bed.

* * *

**(Scene cut to Richard)**

Richard had been putting the finishing touches on an Atlanta setup for Rancis. Despite having driven there before, the Sugar Rusher made only a single lap. To be truly tested, he must make a full run until he runs out of gas which would take about 50 laps. "Do you think it's such a good idea to let him keep racing with us?" A voice behind Richard asked. The King turned around and frowned to see Jimmie standing there.

"Look Jimmie, I've had a _long_ day," Richard sighed in annoyance, "and I don't need you questioning me again," he finished and went back to work. Jimmie walked up to the King and knelt down.

"No Richard I mean is it really a good idea, what if he doesn't catch on like you think? All he had raced his life is go-karts on dirt. And you're expecting him to be able to transfer vehicles and track surfaces like that?" He asked and snapped his fingers. "I'm really not trying to be an ass Richard, I just want to know if you really think he can do this." Jimmie concluded and put his hand on the car for support. Richard pulled himself from under the car and sighed.

"I know where you're coming from Jimmie, and it has been stressful today, but he has the passion and fire for it, he'll get there; he just needs a little help," Richard replied and wiped some grease off his hands. Jimmie clicked his tongue and got up and walked away. Richard pulled himself up and patted the roof of the car. "You're all set," he said to the car, "just take care of him okay?" Richard finished and put his cowboy hat back on. He adjusted the hat when Jeff and Dale approached him again, each holding clipboards.

"Hey Richard, before Rancis gets here, we want to go over something with you again," Dale exclaimed. Richard turned around and put his hands on his hips.

"What's going on here Dale?" Richard asked.

"Well, I think what you're doing here is good for Rancis, but I want to teach him on the SuperSpeedway's and short tracks," Dale said and showed his clipboard for Richard which had time trial laps for Talladega, Daytona, Richmond, Bristol and Martinsville.

"Well, this all looks good here, nice work Dale, you can work with him tomorrow," Richard said with a smile and handed Dale his clipboard back. He then turned to Jeff and asked, "and what do you want to propose Jeff?"

Jeff cleared his throat and replied, "well since he has raced on a road course his whole life, I thought Tony and I would take the liberty of testing him out on Sonoma and Watkins Glen to see if he can use what he already knows here." Richard looked over the clipboard and handed it back.

"That's good thinking Jeff, you and Tony are the men when it comes to road course racing here," Richard replied. He took out a bottle of water and took a quick swig when there was a soft knock on the garage door. The three turned around to see Rancis standing in the doorway nervously.

"I'm here Richard," Rancis said quietly, averting his eyes from Dale and Jeff. Richard smiled and put his hand on Rancis' shoulder and led him in to the garage.

"Well, that's good Rancis, I got your car all setup for Atlanta again," Richard replied and brushed off his hand. Rancis looked confusingly to Richard.

"But I've already raced Atlanta and it was okay," Rancis retorted. Richard chuckled and patted Rancis' head.

"Yeah I know, but for the past few days, we've raced your way, and frankly it hasn't gone very well," Richard said.

"Okay you got me there," Rancis sheepishly admitted.

"But tonight, you're gonna race your way first for 50 laps here, then we'll check everything out on your car and then you'll race 50 laps _my _way," Richard said sternly. Rancis sighed, looked at the ground, and back up at Dale and Jeff.

"You're the King, let's do it!" Rancis exclaimed and put his mask and helmet on.

"And by the way Rancis, nice new suit!" Richard replied. Rancis climbed in his car and put it in reverse to get out of his garage stall. A few minutes later, Richard was on top of Rancis' pit box and Rancis was driving on the track. Everything was fine and normal until about lap 8 when Rancis' car did a four wheel slide off of turn four.

"Ooh damn that was close!" Rancis radioed to Richard. Rancis gathered himself back up and entered turn one a little steadier.

"How's the car doing Rancis?" Richard asked him and took out a clipboard and pen.

"Mod! Her ass end is sliding all over the racetrack!" Rancis replied, "it's like driving on dog snot on ice covered in soap!" he finished and slid some more.

"Okay that means you're loose Rancis! Loose is fast and on the edge of out of control. When you're loose, it means the back end wants to come around on you," Richard explained.

"Well, how do I counter-act that Richard?" Rancis asked as he completed lap 11.

"What you do is, try to enter the turns in a little higher lane so the higher banking in the turn can help catch your car, plus you can turn your brake bias up to keep your car a little more stable when you brake for the corners," Richard instructed.

"Alright I got it Richard," Rancis said and did exaclty what Richard told him. About 35 laps later, Rancis had to wheel the car around the quad-oval.

"Okay nice save Rancis, for that, when you feel the car is about to spin, let off the throttle to let the car catch itself, don't try to be the hero and keep the throttle open," Richard said. "It also might help to not enter the corners so fast," he finished.

"You're the King Richard," Rancis radioed in. Soon after, Rancis pulled into pit road, done with his testing stint. He got out of the car, sweat showing through some parts of his suit and his hair was messed up, yet it really didn't freak him out. Unbeknownst to him, Vanellope had shown up to observe him and boy did she ever. As he climbed out of the car and she saw all the sweat dripping from his face, she swore her mind drew a blank. Rancis peeled the top of his suit down to cool off, almost making his girlfriend faint. That's when he noticed her. "Hey Nelly, you made it!" He exclaimed.

"Y-yeah I s-sure did," she replied, trying to form words. The urges were back, all she could think of was being close to his muscular body. He hugged her, causing her body to go limp.

"It's good to see you, my testing session is half over," Rancis told her.

"Yeah, and Rancis here did a good job here," Richard said. Rancis smiled and poured some water on himself. Vanellope came close to losing it, but she kept her composure and just breathed deeply.

"Thanks Richard, I think I'm ready for another bout," Rancis replied.

"Well now hold on Ranics, there is one other thing I need to tell you," Richard began, "tires is what wins races," he finished. "And I know that in your game your tires were made out of candy and never wore out, but tires here are made of rubber which does wear out, if your rubbers wear out then you're gonna slip and slide all over the track straight into the wall," Richard further explained.

"Oh yeah my friends Swizzle told me about that once, he said Trojans are the best rubbers out there," Rancis said. Richard face-palmed and took a drink of Budweiser.

"Not what I meant, but you do need to figure out how to race without melting the tires, so now we're gonna run _my_ way son," Richard replied. Rancis climbed back in his car and Vanellope got on the pit box with Richard and Jeff.

"So how are you doing Vanellope?" Jeff asked politely.

"I'm doing fine Jeff, I'm doing just fine," Vanellope replied as she watched her boyfriend drive around the track. "I'm glad Rancis is having fun with this, but I kept telling him he was good enough and didn't need to prove anything to me and his friends," Vanellope finished.

"Yeah, I know what you mean Vanellope, but some drivers want different challenges to keep up with the competition and I think he's doing good," Jeff said. Back with Rancis, the Peanut Butter Cup boy kept trying to 'attack' the corners as hard as he could to get through them fast.

"STOP THAT RANCIS!" Richard yelled at him through the radio.

"What did I do?!" Rancis asked, scared out of his wits.

"You need to drive it in smooth to keep your tires from melting and you need to let off the throttle and not mash down on the brake pedal," Richard instructed. Rancis did everything Richard said and at the end of the run, his average time was a whopping SIX seconds faster than his first run average time.

"That was bloody brilliant Richard," Rancis said as he saw the lap time comparisons.

"See, if you're patient and willing at the beginning of a run, you can save your tires to make a hard charge for the win, but for now, I think you're ready to try this in a real race, if you're ready of course," Richard said with a smirk. Rancis looked over at his girlfriend.

"What do you think Nelly?" Rancis asked. Vanellope grabbed his head and kissed him, earning Rancis a few 'ooohs' from his fellow competitors.

"Go get 'em Flugs," Vanellope said as she released him. Rancis looked back at Richard with a grin on his face.

"Bring it Richard, I think you're ready for a runner-up finish," Rancis said in a cocky tone.

"I'm so glad you said that, then strap back in, we're running an Atlanta race now!" Richard declared and called the other drivers to their cars. Rancis looked around, surprised that this was happening so fast.

"Are you sure right now Richard, shouldn't we wait until like tomorrow?" Rancis asked nervously. The King stopped in his tracks and turned to Rancis, disappointed.

"I knew you weren't ready for this, then go home," Richard said, secretly crossing his fingers. Rancis' face contorted into determination.

"No, I'm ready for this, and I am going to win and you're going to be okay with that!" Rancis declared and strapped into his car. He then stopped and realized what he had done. "Damned reverse psychology," he said to himself. Vanellope climbed back onto the pit box and put on the radio that Richard used to talk to Rancis, but she muted the mic to not disturb her Rancis.

"Alright boys, Rancis is reformed and tested, let's see how he does," Richard said through the radio. Rancis was starting last in the 60 lap stint, meaning that EVERYONE had to pit for fuel at some point, the question would be, when would everyone pit for fuel? Would they pit after about 15 laps, or wait for a caution at the end? Rancis hadn't been shown how to save fuel because Richard wanted him to learn something on his own. Coming out of turn four, the pace car dropped onto pit road and the holographic flag man waved the green flag and the race commenced.

"Let's do it," Rancis said to himself. He started 13th, right behind Bobby Allison and Alan Kulwicki. He followed Bobby's inside line through turns one and two and helped push him past Alan down the backstretch. This also helped Rancis due to Bobby going into turn three a little faster than he anticipated and he overshot the corner, allowing Ranics to assume 11th position. The want to push his car as hard as he could kept bugging Rancis, but he pushed that feeling down as they crossed the line for lap two. After only one lap, Rancis did feel that the grip level was starting to diminish. Going into turn one, Rancis moved his lane from the bottom to the middle for some more grip.

"You can do it Flugs," Vanellope told herself. The lane change worked as Rancis' car stuck to the track and he got the momentum to get by Cale and David for 9th. David attempted to get his spot back on the bottom, but Rancis held his line in turn 4 and pulled back ahead of David.

"See ya, wouldn't want to be ya," Rancis teased David. His car did feel a little on the loose side, so Rancis adjusted his brake bias to get his car to keep stable. Rancis knew that he was in ninth place and that meant that it would get a little harder to pass people. On lap 12, Rancis got a run on Darrell coming out of turn four, but Darrell let his car drift up in front of Rancis' and slammed the door. "FUCK!" Rancis shouted and hit the brakes to not hit Darrell's car. Luckily, Rancis was a good bit ahead of 10th place still and didn't fall back. He knew that if he pushed it too hard, he would wreck, so Rancis just sat back and let the race come to him. 15 laps later, Rusty's engine lost a cylinder and was forced to retire, giving Rancis another spot up to 8th. On lap 30, Rancis re-caught Darrell and finally got around him when Darrell's slide job forced him into the wall and allowed Rancis to pass on the inside of the backstretch.

"That's my Flugs," Vanellope said and twirled a piece of her hair in her finger. Rancis eventually got up to sixth when Jimmie and Bill chose to pit on lap 40, but that's when Cale slapped the turn four wall and spun into the infield grass. Jimmie and Bill were now caught a lap down and were forced to take the wave around where lapped cars got one lap back, but couldn't pit under the yellow. Every other driver on the lead lap came down pit road. Rancis decided to lower his trackbar to be tighter on entry to not spin out and he wanted some wedge taken out to let him wheel his car off the turns.

"Coming back to green in 3, 2, 1, GREEN!" Rancis' spotter called out. Rancis was restarting seventh, and good thing because second place restarter, Tony Stewart, spun his tires and jammed up the outside row. Going into one, Rancis was 7th, but coming out of turn two, he was fourth. There were only 15 laps to go now, and Rancis just knew that he had to get what he could or risk losing it.

"I got ya Jeff," Rancis said as he performed a great cross over when he got a helluva run off turn two on the high lane and crossed lanes below Jeff and over took third going into three. Jeff tried to get back by him, but Rancis' car was _hooked up_. Dale and Richard were about 2 seconds ahead when the field got the 10 laps to go signal. Rancis smiled when he saw Dale and Richard battling side by side, allowing Rancis to slowly catch up. With seven laps to go, Richard's, Dale's and Rancis' tires were all pretty worn, but thanks to Richard's teachings, Rancis was able to save his stuff. Going into five laps to go, Rancis was only a half second behind the two champs. In turn one, Dale rode a lane lower than Richard in the middle and got a run up on him. Down the backstretch, Dale and Richard were side by side, but Dale had to lift because Richard's car took the air off of Dale's spoiler, forcing the Intimidator to lift.

"You're not getting away with that Richard," Dale said to himself. Coming to four laps to go, Dale nudged Richard's left rear quarter-panel, getting Richard loose forcing his car up the track towards the wall. The King had to lift to avoid the wall, costing him first and second. Even with all of his racing talent, the time and the tire grip wasn't there, and Richard's chance at a win, was dashed. So what did Richard do? He cheered on his protege.

"COME ON RANCIS! GET THAT WIN BOY!" Richard yelled to himself. Going down the backstretch, Rancis utilized the draft wake from Dale's car and let Dale pull him around turn three and four. Rancis did lose a little time because of how tight his car was on entry, and the dirty air made him lose a little of his front end tires, but he quickly let out of the throttle and mashed hit back down, losing only half a tenth of a second.

"Bring it Rancis, let's see what you got kid," Dale said as he glanced in his mirror. Coming to 3 laps to go, Rancis cooled off his tires by taking it easy in one and two, and let the draft suck his car back up to Dale's. But this time, Rancis let off early to get out of the dirty air. The move worked and allowed Rancis to stick with Dale. Meanwhile, Vanellope was standing up, clenching his fists so hard she almost made her palms bleed, and she bit her lip. Her heart rate was elevated and her breathing was labored.

"Come on Flugs, I know you can do it," she told herself. But, Dale being the legend that he is, figured out what Rancis was doing and tried to stop him. With only 2 laps to go, Rancis went to the high lane once again to try and pass Dale, but Dale switched lanes and took Rancis' line to keep him behind. Rancis lost the front end of his car and had to lift or face the consequence of hitting the wall.

"You're going down Dale," Rancis said through gritted teeth. Going into turn three, Rancis took the low line and actually gained his ground back. With saving his tires, Rancis was able to go lower than Dale, which Dale also knew.

"WHITE FLAG!" Rancis' spotter announced, "Only 2 tenths behind," his spotter finished. Going into turn one, Rancis took the middle line to still gain momentum which worked and allowed him to get right on Dale's bumper on the exit of turn two. Down the backstretch, Rancis kept pushing Dale's car into three, forcing the Intimidator to hit the brakes harder to not slap the wall on entry. Rancis seized his opportunity and dove low, keeping his throttle down. Rancis' car started to snap sideways, but Rancis' instincts helped him keep it under control and get pull a slide job on Dale. He slid his car right in front of Dale's car. Dale tried in vain to get back by, but Rancis squeezed Dale lower and lower until Dale was on the apron and had to let off. Coming out of four, Dale let off the throttle, which in turn, gave Rancis, THE WIN.

"YEESSSS! MAN THIS WAS AMAZING! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WHOOOO!" Rancis yelled over the radio. He slowed his car down and dropped the window net to wave to the other drivers. Dale pulled to his outside and gave him a thumbs up. Richard bumped his rear bumper and waved to him. Jeff lightly sideswiped his car with a thumbs up. Tony drove backwards and gave him a high five before driving onto pit road. Rancis parked his car on the front stretch and did a burnout. In doing so, his rear tires exploded, but Rancis cared none in the least. Back with Vanellope, the President of Sugar Rush was jumping up and down on the pit box.

"THAT'S MY RANCIS! YOU'RE THE BEST BABY!" She exclaimed as Rancis pulled his car into Victory Lane. But she stopped short when Rancis came out of the car and was showered with confetti and soda. She heard him say something about getting his new suit sticky from the soda, so he took the top down and revealed his large and sweaty muscles underneath. Vanellope's eyes got big as she scanned her boyfriend's sweaty torso and hair. She started sweating herself and fanning. Then suddenly, something overtook her mind, and Vanellope turned around and ran out of the game.

"By God Rancis, that was some astounding racing there, nice job son!" Dale said to Rancis with a handshake.

"Thank you Dale, but really this win is for Richard, for teaching me how to drive a stock car, thank you you Richard!" Rancis said and pointed to his mentor.

"It was nothing Rancis, but it was really you're racing talent's and know how that got you this win, I just helped you get some confidence," Richard explained. Rancis hugged Richard and poured some Root Beer onto his head.

"Yeah, but you're still the man!" Rancis exclaimed and hoisted up his trophy. Rancis then scanned the area for his girl, but was disappointed when he couldn't find her. "Hey guys, this has been fantastic, but I want to find my girl," Rancis said and left. On his way, he ran into Citrusella and Torvald.

"H-hey what are you two doing here?" Rancis asked curiously.

"We're here to see our boyfriends," Citrusella explained.

"WHAT?! Who are you dating Torvald?" Rancis asked.

"Tony, he's _so_ tough," Torvald replied dreamily.

"Okay," Rancis said and backed away awkwardly. Back with the champions, Richard was getting congrats from his fellows.

"Well, there's another damn good reason why you're our leader!" Jeff said and toasted Richard.

"Thanks Jeff, but you and Dale still have much to teach him, and that is why I am glad to say you are the best right hand men ever, I really couldn't do this without you two," Richard replied. Jimmie watched them from behind a garbage can with a scowl.

"Oh just drink up boys cause in the next few days, _I'm _gonna be head honcho of this place," he said to himself. But behind him, his 'master' was watching him.

"Yes, keep thinking _you're_ getting the better end of the deal Johnson, I'll be the God of the arcade once I'm done with you," the figure said to himself from the shadows.

* * *

**(Five minutes later!)**

Rancis had arrived back in Sugar Rush, but still couldn't find his Nelly anywhere. "Hey Swizz!" Rancis called. The Swizz was busy sitting in a tree with his girl in his lap.

"Yo, what's up Rancis?" Swizzle asked with a smirk.

"Nothing, I just won a NASCAR race and I'm trying to find Nelly," Rancis replied. Swizzle immediately sat up, causing Jubileena to fall off his lap onto a lower branch.

"Oops, sorry Jubee," Swizzle apologized, "but you won a race?! Why didn't you invite us before it started?" Swizzle demanded.

"I would have, but Richard tested me and started a race when I least suspected it," Rancis replied, "but anyway have you two seen Nelly?" Rancis asked again.

"I think I saw her running back to her castle," Jubileena said, "why didn't you think of that before?" she asked.

"Well, because I didn't okay? I saw you guys and thought you would know," Rancis said sheepishly. He turned around and ran back to the castle. He saw Bill sitting on a stool outside the door playing a harmonica.

"Nobody knows, the trouble I seen, glory hallelujah!" Sour Bill sang.

"Bill?" Rancis asked unsure.

"Um, Mr. Fluggerbutter, you saw nothing!" Bill said angrily.

"Whatever cough drop, why are you outside the castle?" Rancis asked.

"The President has ordered me and all the servants out of the castle for the evening, the servants have their own private quarters around the back of the castle, but I'm stuck out here for the night," Bill explained and went back to playing his harmonica.

"Okay can I go in?" Rancis asked. Bill jabbed his thumb towards the door and Rancis knew he was in. He opened the door to a dark castle. Up the staircase, Rancis could see the dim light from behind Vanellope's door, and the muffled sound of Def Leppard playing. Rancis slowly made his way up the stairs, not knowing what was going to happen. He could hear the opening rift from _"Pour Some Sugar On Me"_ starting to play. Rancis slowly reached for the knob. His hands were still sweaty from the intensity of his race and form his nervousness. The knob slowly turned and his pushed the Chocolate door open.

"Hey there Flugs," Vanellope said in a sultry voice, "glad you come in," she said seductively with a smirk and cocked eye brow. Rancis' eyes widened to the width of dinner plates and his jaw hit the floor. Standing before him, leaning on a bed post, was Vanellope, wearing a see through silk night-gown with nothing else on.

**END CHAPTER 12**

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_OOH A teasing cliffhanger! Mwahaha. I love teasing you guys. SO how was that race? HE FINALLY WINS! And the part about Vanellope's heart rate going up and her breathing becoming labored does happen to me when Jeff Gordon is about to win because I too am nervous about what could happen to him. BUT anyway, how bout that ending? I'm not 100% sure yet, but I am thinking about doing an M rated lemon scene. But please let me know in your review, should I write it or should I keep it T rated and leave it implied? If you say YES, I will make a __separate M rated story. REVIEW PLEASE! I WANT 100 before the story is OVER! REVEIW NOW OR The Killer from A Nightmare on Halloween will get YOU!_


	13. Payback for a Friend

**Chapter 13: Payback for a friend**

_I do not own anything in this story. Please Enjoy Chapter 13!_

* * *

Rancis' eyes opened slowly and he yawned. He felt a warm lump laying on his side. He looked over at his girlfriend sleeping like a baby and smiled. The wonderful memory of the previous night flooded his brain. Rancis looked back over at the TV to see _Top Gun_ playing. "Was that an all night Cruise marathon?" He asked himself.

"Mwmwm," Vanellope incoherently mumbled and smacked her lips. Rancis smiled and kissed her head. When he still got no response, he slowly got her arms off of him to get out of bed. He let his eyes linger at her chest for a moment then got out of bed. After a brief shower, he exited the bathroom and put on his racing suit. He 'awwed' at how cute his Nelly looked curled up in her bed. He slipped the blanket over her naked body and pecked her cheek. Rancis left her a little vanilla flower and put it in her ear with a note.

"See you soon Nelly," he said and left. Walking through Sugar Rush, Rancis noticed it was somewhat quiet. "Hmm, Litwak must still be out sick, that sucks," he said to himself. He passed by the gate that said, _"Parting is such sweet Sorrow,"_ when he heard someone call out his name.

"Hey Rancis!" Swizzle called. Rancis turned to his left to see his best friend and girlfriend walking together. "Hey where'd you get that sweet suit?" Swizzle asked.

"It must've come with the Update because I found it in my closet in my house," Rancis explained. "Everyone seems to like it," he added.

"That's cool, but how is racing in NASCAR going?" Jubileena asked. Rancis grinned, remembering his triumphant win the previous night over Dale Earnhardt.

"Well since my victory last night, I think it's only going to get better," Rancis replied, "and I think today, Dale is going to teach me how to race on a restrictor plate track!" Rancis exclaimed. Jubileena and Swizzle looked over at each other, not knowing what the hell he was talking about.

"What in the hell is a 'restrictor plate?'" Swizzle asked. Rancis opened his mouth to speak, but closed it as he realized that even _he_ didn't know exactly, despite the fact he knew about the draft.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask Dale today," Rancis said and began to depart from the game, but Jubileena had another idea.

"So, how was your special 'fun time' with Vanellope last night?" Jubileena teased. Rancis whirled around quickly and Swizzle turned his head quickly to look at his girl. Both Swizzle and Rancis had somewhat the same thought.

"Jubee, what are you talking about?" Swizzle asked.

"More importantly Swizz, how does she _know?_" Rancis asked with his mouth opened. Jubileena giggled and smiled.

"Just call it, women's intuition Rancis," Jubileena said with a wink and took Swizzle's hand. "And speaking of women's intuition, come here you," she said to Swizzle and pulled him behind a candy cane tree. Rancis averted his eyes and walked away while humming the Sugar Rush theme song. While walking through Game Central Station, Rancis avoided contact with Ralph as he and Felix were chatting and walking around.

"That was a close one," Rancis said to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He came from behind the Def Leppard game and disappeared in the crowd. He arrived in Challenge of the Champions a short while later and met up with Dale, Richard, Jeff and Tony.

"So, are you ready to learn about the draft today Rancis?" Dale asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Rancis replied. Richard grinned at Rancis' enthusiasm.

"See Rancis, winning gives you that extra edge," Richard said. Rancis smiled and put his face mask on and his helmet. He climbed through the window of his car and fired up the engine. Dale climbed in his #3 Goodwrench Chevy and teach Rancis all about the draft at Talladega.

* * *

**(Back with Vanellope)**

Vanellope lightly opened her eyes as the light from the window intruded upon her face. She noticed that there were more covers on her than the night before and something in her ear. The President grabbed the objects from above her ear and looked at them. One was a vanilla scented flower and the other was a note folded into a little swan. She opened up the note to read it. _'Dear Nelly. I woke up and couldn't bear the thought of disturbing your sleep. I had the time of my life last night and I love you. I hope to see you soon. -Rancis.'_ Vanellope smiled at the line about the previous night. For her, not only was it the time of her life, it was something magical, even more than when she and Ralph had become friends.

"Sweet mother of monkey Milk!" She exclaimed, "I haven't hung out with Ralph that much anymore," Vanellope said sadly. She jumped out of bed and immediately shuddered. Vanellope remembered that she was still naked and threw on a quick outfit. "Ah that's better," she remarked and headed outside. "Hey, sourpuss, you can go back in," she told Sour Bill who was still sitting on his camp chair.

"Thank you madame President," he said sourly and slowly walked back inside the castle. Vanellope hopped in her kart and started driving away to go see her best friend. However, as she stirred up the cinnamon dirt and revved up her motor, Vanellope heard _familiar _noises coming from behind a few trees. She quietly parked her kart and shut off the engine.

"Ooooh Swizzle!" Vanellope heard Jubileena moan. Vanellope's jaw dropped and she hit the 'button' on her kart's dashboard to transform the kart to her super suit. Once the transformation was complete, Vanellope flew as fast as she could out of the game.

"Didn't need to see or hear that," she said to herself and landed her suit right outside the exit of the game. The suit transformed back to her kart and she started driving it through GCS. "I guess Litwak is still sick," she heard someone say. As Vanellope maneuvered through the station, she accidentally hit someone.

"Owww!" She heard the man say. Vanellope hopped out of her kart and was immediately right by his side.

"I'm SO sorry are you okay?" She asked in worry.

"Yeah I'm fine Miss uh?" The man asked as Vanellope helped him up.

"I'm Vanellope von Schweetz, I'm the leader of Sugar Rush," Vanellope explained.

"Steve Clark, lead guitarist of Def Leppard," Steve replied. Vanellope's face lit up. She remembered the few days prior that Rick Allen had shown up to get Taffyta.

"I know who that is, Rick Allen came by a few days ago," Vanellope replied.

"Oh yeah, our boy Gloyd, won his girl over specially," Steve replied, "I've never been more glad to play _Hysteria_ before then," he continued and brushed himself off.

"Well, if you're okay then, I've got somewhere to be," Vanellope said and got back in her kart.

"Oh of course, see ya later Ms. Von Schweetz," Steve waved good-bye. "Nice girl," he said as Vanellope drove off. A few short minutes later, Vanellope arrived at Fix-It Felix Jr. Vanellope hopped out of her kart and waltzed on over to Ralph's little shack. She giggled at the memory of Swizzle asking if it was just a run-down outhouse. After knocking on the door and getting no answer, Vanellope looked in through the window and sighed when she saw no wrecker!

"Where could he be?" She asked herself. Vanellope sat on a rock and kicked some dirt in boredom for about five minutes before she heard a voice calling her.

"Yoohoo! Can I help you young lady?" Mary called out. Vanellope looked over to the pastry maker and pouted her lip.

"Yeah, have you seen Ralphie anywhere?" She asked politely. Mary tapped her chin and thought for a little bit.

"Hmm you know what? I think he and Felix went off to have a drink together as brothers a little bit ago. But they should be back soon, would you like to stay up in the penthouse until they get back?" Mary offered.

"Sure!" Vanellope said happily and walked back with Mary. Once they got up top however, Vanellope was greeted with the proudest Nicelander, Gene. He was sipping on a martini, per the norm, and flipping through a magazine.

"Uh Mary?" Gene called as Mary and Vanellope entered the penthouse.

"Yes Gene?" Mary asked when she started whipping up a quick pie for Vanellope.

"Why is that glitch here?" Gene asked sternly without even looking Vanellope's way as he said it. Vanellope snapped her head up at the comment and Mary gasped and dropped the pie tin on the floor where it clanked around loudly until it stopped. When he got no response, Gene asked again, "Well, what is that glitch doing here?".

"GENE!" Mary exclaimed, "How rude of you! This is a nice, sweet young lady and a personal friend of Felix!" Mary continued, shaking a rolling pin at Gene. He set the magazine and martini glass down and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So is Ralph, but that doesn't mean I _like_ that evil piece of shit," he said and went back to his drink. Vanellope glitched over and smacked the glass out of Gene's hand where it shattered into a trillion 8-bit pieces. Gene stared speechlessly at the empty spot around his hand that used to contain his drink.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He shouted at Vanellope.

"Oh how dare _me?!_" Vanellope yelled, "how dare _you_ for talking about my friend like that asshole!" She continued her rant. "You can harp on me all day long, I handled it for 15 years, but don't you dare say one bad thing about the hero of the arcade, the same hero may I remind you, that _you_ never apologized to for being such a jerk to!" Vanellope finished with a red face. Gene chuckled darkly and then began laughing maniacally.

"HAHAHAH!" He exclaimed before wiping away a tear, "_Apologize?!_ For what? If anything, _I_ should be the hero of the arcade because it was _me_ who pushed Ralph to try to get a medal, which caused several other events to unfold," Gene explained, "in fact, he should _thank_ me for helping him save the arcade," he finished.

"No jerkwad, it was Ralph who kept trying to prove _you_ wrong, who succeeded on his own; you had nothing to do with it," Vanellope said and kicked him in the testicles. Gene flew out the window and landed on the ground, holding his crotch in pain. "Serves him right," Vanellope said through gritted teeth. "Sorry you had to see that Mary," Vanellope apologized. Now normally, Mary would _not_ like conflicts to resort to violence, despite being in a video game were the protagonist got hit with bricks, but this time she knew that Gene needed a little 'encouragement' to stop being an ass.

"Oh that's quite all right dear, Gene can sometimes be full of himself," Mary responded and resumed making the pie for Vanellope.

"You know Mary, if I want a pie in Sugar Rush," Vanellope began, "I have my friend, Jubileena, make them, but you could give her a run for her money," Vanellope said when she smelled the pie quickly baking.

"Well thank you sweety," Mary exclaimed and cut out a slice of pie with whipped cream for Vanellope. As the racer began to munch on it, Ralph, Calhoun & Felix entered the penthouse.

"Hey kiddo!" Ralph exclaimed and hugged Vanellope. She laughed with a mouth full of pie and hugged the giant wrecker back.

"Hey Ralphie, what's up?" Vanellope asked as she swallowed the pie. Ralph set her down and looked her over.

"Not much, just got back from Tapper's with Felix," Ralph started, "I haven't seen you in awhile, how have things been?" He asked. Felix sat down and snuck a slice of pie from the plate and offered it to his wife, which she politely and firmly refused. "And by the way, do you know anything about Gene lying on the ground outside?" Ralph asked.

"Oh that, yeah he kind've insulted you and I took care of it, but things have been going great Ralph! Rancis has been doing great in NASCAR, he won last night," Vanellope added, "and well everyone in Sugar Rush is happy, even Taffyta and Gloyd hooked up," Vanellope finished. Ralph chuckled at Vanellope taking care of Gene.

"You mean that Halloween Kid and that girl who tormented you for 15 years?" Felix asked out of the blue.

"Yep that's them Uncle Felix," Vanellope replied and sat back down on the couch. Calhoun studied Vanellope in the dark. "Um, can I help you Aunt Calhoun?" Vanlleope uncomfortably asked.

"No Soldier, I'm just wanting to know how Rancis is treating you since Ralph here isn't asking," Calhoun said while squinting at Vanellope. Vanellope's cheeks turned pink when she remembered the night before. She knew not to breath a word, or else Ralph and Calhoun might kill Rancis.

"He's the perfect gentleman," was all Vanellope could come up with, hoping that they would all buy it. Unfortunately, Calhoun got up from her seat and strolled on over to Vanellope and knelt down in front of her. The Sergeant grabbed Vanellope's chin and stared into her eyes. Ralph and Felix cocked an eyebrow at the Soldier's questionable behavior.

"Tammy hun, what are you doing to Vanellope?" Felix asked his wife. Calhoun stared into Vanellope's eyes some more and gasped. She released the racer and smirked and chuckled.

"What's up Calhoun?" Ralph asked with his giant hands on his hips. Calhoun chuckled some more and turned to her wrecker friend and husband.

"Well, our little cavity here had a little 'workout' last night," Calhoun smirked. Vanellope blushed and looked away while Ralph and Felix scratched their heads in confusion.

"What do you mean Tammy?" Felix asked.

"You know damn well what I mean Fix-it," Calhoun replied with a knowing look. Felix thought about it and Calhoun discretely gestured to her hips. Felix's eyes widened at the sudden realization.

"Well, what do you mean Calhoun? She worked out?" Ralph asked. Calhoun took him aside to explain. Felix approached Vanellope to calm her down.

"Hey Vanilla, how are you doing?" Felix asked with a warm smile. Vanellope looked back up to him, face still beet red with embarrassment.

"Just fine Uncle Felix, and a little embarrassed," Vanellope responded.

"Oh Tammy's just fooling, she wouldn't hurt you on purpose," Felix assured her.

"Yeah it's Rancis I'm more worried about right now," Vanellope said and looked back over at Calhoun and Ralph. Felix smiled and took her aside to his bedroom.

"I know what'll make you feel better Vanilla," Felix said and opened a closet door. He then brushed a coat out of the way to reveal a keypad. He punched in a code and a new door opened up. Vanellope gasped at what was unfolding before her.

"Just like in Sugar Rush," Vanellope commented. Felix smiled and led her into the code room of Fix-It Felix Jr. Felix tied a rope around her and himself and launched into the code room. They swam around until Felix stopped at his destination.

"Here we are," he said. It was _his _code box. Marked _Fix-It Felix Jr._ He double tapped it and the box expanded. Vanellope looked around while Felix scrolled through his code. She smiled as she saw Ralph's code float by, marked by his face and mammoth sized fists. It was then that Vanellope noticed something strange. All of the other character code boxes were either blue or green, but one was red and flashing. Vanellope was about to ask about it when she thought it must've been Gene's because he was mad.

_'Oh well,_' she thought. "Okay here we go," Felix finally said. Vanellope looked back to him and saw that he was pointing to the code for his golden hammer. "You know about my hammer right Vanellope?" Felix asked. Vanellope nodded. "Well, it can fix anything, but only known to me, it has two settings, gold and platinum," Felix explained.

"Platinum?" Vanellope asked, "what does that do?" She finished. Felix smiled and clicked on the hammer which expanded to its two settings. He then clicked on the Platinum setting and the code flashed. He then picked up his hammer which flashed from Gold to Platinum. "Well it _is_ shinier," Vanellope commented. Felix chuckled and swam them both out of the code room. He untied himself and showed Vanellope the hammer.

"Watch this Vanellope," he said. He then struck a lamp in the room, which shattered into a billion pieces as if hit with a sledgehammer from the Terminator, but he didn't hit it very hard.

"Holy crap!" Vanellope said in astonishment. Felix smiled and put the hammer back in its holster. After re-reprogamming the hammer, it was gold again and he fixed the lamp.

"I knew you would like that," he commented.

"That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen!" Vanellope replied, "but why does it have _that_ setting?" she asked curiously.

"Oh it was a failed beta program they forgot to delete," he explained, "originally there would be a second game mode where I destroyed stuff and the gamer used me to try to beat Ralph's best wrecking time, but again, the beta failed, _big time_," he finished explaining. The two locked up the code room and entered back into the penthouse, right about when Ralph yelled, "**THEY WHAT?!"** Vanellope's face was drained of all color as Ralph glared at her and stomped his way over, putting some good sized potholes in the floor.

"Care to explain what you and your boyfriend did last night young lady?" Ralph demanded.

"Come on Wreck-It, she's 21 years old now, she can make decisions like that!" Calhoun sternly said to Ralph, but she fell on deaf ears.

"Did he force you? Was he too rough? Did he rape you? Answer me now!" Ralph demanded.

"RALPH!" Vanellope screamed, "I am not about to discuss my sex life with you!" She yelled, "and for the record, it was my idea and he was completely gentle about it!" Vanellope said angrily and a few tears shed from her eyes. Ralph's expression softened and he knelt down beside her.

"I'm sorry Vanellope, it's just, you're the closest thing to a daughter to me and I just want the best for you," Ralph explained. Vanellope looked up at him with a scowl.

"If you do then prove it, trust me more," she sternly said. Ralph looked down and licked his top lip, thinking. He thought about everything.

"You're right Vanellope, I'll trust you more, but you promise me one thing," he said.

"What's that Ralphie?" Vanellope asked as the tears stopped.

"Just promise that you'll keep being smart and doing the right thing," he said with a smile.

"Of course, Dad," Vanellope said and kissed his cheek. They hugged again and Ralph patted Vanellope's back. They then broke the hug and Ralph kissed her forehead.

"That's my girl," he said when he let her go. Vanellope's face then lit up with excitement.

"OOH! Come down here! I want to show you guys something!" She declared and ran out. After they all reached the ground, Vanellope was already at her kart. "Check this out!" She said excitedly. Vanellope pressed the 'button' and her kart transformed into her super suit.

"You made this Soldier?" Calhoun asked in an impressed tone. Vanellope nodded and powered the suit down.

"I call it, the 'Glitch Special,'" Vanellope smiled.

"That's really awesome Vanellope, maybe it will come in handy one day," Ralph joked.

"Speaking of handy, turns out Rancis has this indestructible shield in our game. And when I say indestructible, I mean that. The thing deflected sweet seekers, cherry bombs and I bet it could handle your fists Ralph," Vanellope bragged. Ralph chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Oh yeah, we'll have to see about that," he said. "Speaking of Rancis, why don't you go see him? I'm sure he misses ya," Ralph suggested. Vanellope smiled and transformed the suit back and flew away.

"She is something special isn't she?" Felix asked.

"She sure is Fix-It, she sure is," Calhoun replied. Vanellope flew out of the game, causing the alarms to go off and the Surge Protector to look around at what he missed. All of the game characters looked on in astonishment. Vanellope ignored all the gasps and finger pointing and flew into Challenge of the Champions. She was high above Talladega and saw Rancis being pushed by Dale.

"Hmm, he needs a new paint scheme," Vanellope commented and flew down towards the track.

**END CHAPTER 13**

* * *

_Ah, here is Chapter 13 done! And on a side note, I'm glad you all liked "I'm Ready if you're ready." But yeah I WAS going to have this chapter be about Rancis learn about restrictor plate racing, but Vanellope spending time with Ralph I thought would be a good refresher from all the Rancis __centered chapters. But onto important things! Remember in Star Your Engines when I expressed my hatred for what happened in NASCAR? Well NASCAR fixed IT! (Somewhat) The 56 of Martin Truex and all of his teammates were docked 50 points. This knocked him out of the Chase and his team's General Manager, Ty Norris, was kicked out of NASCAR. This allowed Ryan Newman in the #39 car to be in the Chase. However, Clint Bowyer in the 15, who started this shit in the first place, was NOT affected at all. He is still eligible for the title in November. And Jeff Gordon, who was screwed in this as well as Ryan Newman, was basically given the finger by NASCAR, even though if Bowyer didn't cheat, Gordon would have made the Chase. He and all of his fans are BEYOND pissed. But I don't want to bore you guys, I hope you like Chapter 13 and look for Chapter 14 coming after Chapter 9 of SYE._


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